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Boston snags win in the 12th inning

American League

Down to their last three outs of the season, the Boston Red Sox rallied -- against Mariano Rivera, the New York Yankees and decades of disappointment.

Bill Mueller singled home the tying run off Rivera in the ninth inning and David Ortiz homered against Paul Quantrill in the 12th, leading Boston to a 6-4 victory over the Yankees that avoided a four-game sweep in the American League championship series.

"We always find a way to make it hard for ourselves," Red Sox starter Derek Lowe said.

Pedro Martinez will start for Boston in Game 5 today against Mike Mussina, trying to force the series back to New York the following night. If the Sox win, injured Curt Schilling is expected to be ready to start Game 6.

Red Sox fans who had been praying, holding hands and hoping against hope a few innings earlier, burst into cheers when Ortiz connected. Long after Sunday turned into Monday, there was still plenty of energy in old Fenway Park.

Even Ortiz danced home to his waiting teammates at home plate.

This game lasted 5 hours, 2 minutes and ended at 1:22am EDT, marking the second back-to-back marathon these teams have played. Saturday's 19-8 win by the Yankees took 4 hours, 20 minutes. The teams have little time to get ready for Game 5, which starts at 5:10pm (2110 GMT).

"Everybody's going to have trouble sleeping, except maybe from exhaustion," Yankees manager Joe Torre said.

Of the 25 previous teams to fall behind 3-0 in a best-of-seven series, 20 were swept, three lost in five games and two lost in six.

Quantrill, New York's fifth pitcher, relieved Tom Gordon to start the 12th and allowed a leadoff single to Manny Ramirez. Ortiz's shot on a 2-1 pitch landed in the right-field bullpen.

"Had I not given up the hit to Manny, I would have gone further inside," Quantrill said. "Ortiz is just a great hitter and he beat me."

Boston was facing a disappointing end to a season when Rivera walked Kevin Millar to lead off the ninth.

"You put the walk away, and it would have been totally different," Rivera said. "It wasn't the way I planned it today."

Pinch-runner Dave Roberts stole second on the first pitch to Mueller, who lined one up the middle as Roberts easily scored and Rivera swung his right arm in disgust. He has blown just four saves in 36 postseason chances, but two have come this year. He has lost to Boston twice during the regular season.

"It certainly is disappointing," Torre said. "We're so used to Mo going out there and getting people out, which he did tonight. The walk and stolen base was the difference in that ninth inning."

Doug Mientkiewicz followed with a sacrifice, and Johnny Damon hit a hopper to first that Tony Clark, playing in place of injured John Olerud, fumbled for an error. That left runners at first and third.

Orlando Cabrera struck out, the Yankees let Damon take second and Ramirez walked, loading the bases for Ortiz, who flied to right.

With closer Keith Foulke already having pitched 2 2-3 innings, Alan Embree came in and got through the 10th. Curtis Leskanic escaped an 11th-inning jam by getting Bernie Williams on a bases-loaded flyout, then stranded a runner at second in the 12th by striking out Miguel Cairo.

Hours earlier, the Yankees took a 2-0 lead in the third. After Derek Jeter singled with two outs off Lowe, Alex Rodriguez hit a drive to left field over an advertising sign atop the Green Monster, his second homer in two nights.

Sidelined since Oct. 1 with a tired shoulder, Yankees starter Orlando Hernandez baffled Boston with pitches ranging from a 91mph (146kph) fastball to a 55mph (88.5kph) curve. Then, in the fifth, the Red Sox went ahead 3-2 on three walks, Cabrera's RBI single and Ortiz's two-run single.

The Yankees came back to score twice in the sixth, with Hideki Matsui starting the rally with a one-out triple. But it was a series of tricklers and rollers that scored the runs that put them ahead 4-3.

Groans from fans could be heard when Boston manager Terry Francona walked to the mound and brought in Mike Timlin to face Williams, who hit a slow bouncer to shortstop. But Cabrera couldn't pick it up with his bare hand and the slow-footed Matsui scored.

After Jorge Posada walked, Williams was thrown out at third trying to advance on a ball that skipped away from catcher Jason Varitek.

Ruben Sierra followed with a grounder that gave second baseman Mark Bellhorn no chance for a play at first. Clark hit a hard grounder that kicked off Bellhorn's glove for another infield hit as Posada scored.

National League

In Houston, Carlos Beltran did it again Sunday, homering in a record fifth straight postseason game and lifting the Astros over the St. Louis Cardinals 6-5 to even the NL championship series at 2-all.

Beltran's tiebreaking shot in the seventh inning off Astros nemesis Julian Tavarez ensured the teams will go back to Busch Stadium to settle who goes to the World Series.

"There's no better feeling," Beltran said.

Meantime, there's Game 5 Monday, with Brandon Backe starting for Houston against Woody Williams.

Sluggers again dominated. Not quite the way they did at Fenway Park, where the Yankees obliterated Boston 19-8 Saturday night for a 3-0 lead in the ALCS.

Albert Pujols homered for St. Louis, then came close to a go-ahead two-run homer in the ninth against Brad Lidge. But the ball was caught on the warning track, and the Astros closer struck out Scott Rolen for his second straight save.

Lance Berkman also homered for Houston, giving the teams a combined 19 home runs through only four games.

The excitable Tavarez upset his opponents last week by remarking, "We don't look at the Houston Astros like this is a great team."

Beltran exacted revenge with his bat. He reached down and golfed a 2-2 slider over the wall, sending the crowd at Minute Maid Park into a frenzy.

"Barry Bonds is the best hitter in baseball. I don't think he could have hit that pitch," Tavarez said. "I can't believe he hit it."

Beltran broke Jeffrey Leonard's 1987 mark for consecutive postseason games with a home run, and matched Barry Bonds' 2002 record for homers in a single postseason.

"This is as good as I've ever seen anybody swing the bat, not just Carlos Beltran," Astros manager Phil Garner said. "He's some kind of locked in."

Beltran is getting richer and richer with each swing. The switch-hitting, All-Star center fielder might be the prime free agent on the market once the season ends -- at this moment, he's aiming for a ring.

"I'm just being relaxed, patient at the plate," Beltran said.

Tavarez further angered the Astros when he threw a fastball over the head of the next hitter, Jeff Bagwell, after Beltran's home run. They exchanged words, plate umpire Mike Winters warned against further trouble and play resumed without any problems.

Dan Wheeler wound up with the win, pitching one inning in relief.

With Roy Oswalt on the mound, the Astros really liked this pitching matchup. Yet, the righty who led the league with 20 wins was far from his best -- he hung around for six innings and didn't strike out a single hitter for the first time since July 2003.

Oswalt went 2-0 against St. Louis this season, then won the clinching Game 5 of the first round at Atlanta. But he seemed too eager and too excited at the start and never found his rhythm.

Two-time All-Star Ray Boone, patriarch of a three-generation baseball family, died early Sunday following a long illness. He was 81.

Boone played from 1948-1960 with six teams and was followed into the big leagues by son Bob and grandsons Bret and Aaron.

Boone was an infielder who had a career .275 batting average, with 151 home runs and 737 RBIs. He played for the Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, Kansas City Athletics, Milwaukee Braves and the Boston Red Sox.

He was an All-Star third baseman for Detroit in 1954 and 1956.

Bob Boone played from 1972-1990, and Bret Boone broke into the big leagues with Seattle in 1992. Aaron Boone made his debut in 1997.
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