Jason Varitek homered, David Ortiz drove in another big run and David Wells pitched seven strong innings on Friday night to give the Boston Red Sox a 5-3 victory and a first-place tie with the New York Yankees heading into the season's final weekend.
"You never want to sigh too hard," Red Sox closer Mike Timlin said. "It's going to be a tough two games."
Boston's win left both teams at 94-66 and guaranteed that at least one team's playoff fate won't be decided until Sunday -- the last day on the regular-season schedule.
"It was inevitable," New York third baseman Alex Rodriguez said. "You knew in spring training when you saw these three games it was going to come down to this."
The Red Sox and Yankees lead Cleveland by one game in the AL wild-card race after the Indians lost 3-2 in 13 innings to the Chicago White Sox.
If Boston and New York split the last two games and Cleveland beats Chicago twice, there would be a one-game playoff Monday at Yankee Stadium for the AL East title, with the loser playing the Indians on Tuesday for the wild-card berth.
If Boston and New York are tied and Cleveland can't match them, the Yankees would win the East and the Red Sox the wild card because New York will have won the season series against Boston.
For now, the schedule has Tim Wakefield (16-11) facing Randy Johnson (16-8) on Saturday, with Curt Schilling (7-8) going against Mike Mussina (13-8) on Sunday.
"It's not like we can live it up and pound our chest," Boston manager Terry Francona said. "We've got to come back and beat maybe the best pitcher in the league."
Wells (15-7) won for the sixth time in seven decisions, the only loss coming on Sept. 9 at Yankee Stadium. But returning to Fenway Park -- a ballpark he once offered to blow up -- served the former Yankee well; he allowed three runs, six hits and two walks, striking out five and improved to 8-1 this year at home.
"I like the ball in a big game. I'm not afraid to take it," he said. "At age 23 or 42, I still have the same intensity. I just want to go out and pitch, and win."
Timlin got four outs for his 12th save in 19 chances. It was his 80th appearance of the season, a career-high that matched the franchise record.
Rookie Wang Chien-ming ([
"He had to have butterflies tonight. There's no question," manager Joe Torre said. "But I thought he dealt with it really well."
The voluble and voluminous Wells had demonstrated control this year -- with his pitching, not with the mouth that earned him a suspension and a dressing down from the commissioner's office. He allowed just 19 walks in his first 29 starts, but started off on Friday night with two walks and a hit batter, loading the bases with one out in the first inning.
Still, the Yankees scored just once, when Hideki Matsui singled to score Rodriguez, the Yankee's Most Valuable Player front-runner. Jorge Posada struck out with the bases loaded and stranded six runners in his first three at-bats.
Boston tied it when Johnny Damon walked to lead off the Boston first, stole second and scored on Ortiz's single -- his major league-leading 147th RBI. Varitek homered to lead off the second and give Boston the lead for good.
The Red Sox added three in the sixth to make it 5-1.
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