The latest "up from Pawtucket" rookies, Kevin Youkilis and Andy Dominique play key roles in the victory.

01:00 AM EDT on Monday, May 31, 2004

BY SEAN McADAM
Journal Sports Writer

BOSTON -- The afternoon began with a bid for perfection by one of the game's top pitching stars. It ended, hours later, with contributions from some rather anonymous ex-minor leaguers and a veteran journeyman.

Curt Schilling and Manny Ramirez helped the Sox get off to a great start. Andy Dominique, Anastacio Martinez and Dave McCarty helped complete the great finish.

In other words: from a Who's Who to a Who's He?

In the end, what mattered most was the 12-inning, 9-7 comeback by the Sox over the Seattle Mariners, which, in concert with the Yankees' loss to Tampa Bay, put Boston back in first place by a half-game.

McCarty's two-run homer into the center-field bleachers was the Sox' second walk-off win of the season. It made a winner out of Martinez, the fifth pitcher of the afternoon.

"If you want to really win," McCarty said, "get to the playoffs

and move on, you have to have everybody contributing. You can't count on the same guys every day. With all the injuries we've had, we've got a chance to step up."

Manager Terry Francona couldn't help but notice the end-of-the-bench lineup on the field when the win was sealed.

"That was a team we ran out there a lot at the end of games down in (spring training)," he said. "That says a lot for the guys we have. They put a Red Sox uniform on and they expect to win. So do we."

Said Schilling: "If you're going to play in October, if you're going to compete with a roster like the Yankees have put together, you've got to have 30-35 guys who can [compete] at the big-league level. I think we've shown that we have depth."

That McCarty was in the game at all was indicative of how secure the Sox felt about yesterday's game. He was inserted -- as he often is -- as a defensive replacement in the eighth inning with the Sox comfortably ahead 5-1. But Seattle scored six runs in the eighth and led, 7-5. The Sox tied it in their half of the inning, and when McCarty came to the plate in the 12th the score was 7-7.

With Jason Varitek on first after being hit by a pitch ("I was too tired to get out of the way"), McCarty got ahead 3-and-0 against J.J. Putz. Francona gave McCarty the green light.

"We had a good fastball hitter an obvious fastball count," said Francona, "and he put a great swing on it. It's up to our hitters. We have good hitters who have used very good discipline in those situations. That's why they're hitting 3-0 -- there's a lot of trust there. They're good hitters. They know what to do and not to do."

Moreover, Francona has been positively prescient in giving the green light on 3-and-0 counts. In eight situations in which players have swung at 3-and-0 pitches this season, the Sox are 8-for-8 with five doubles and two homers.

"We have a veteran team that knows what to look for what -- what to swing at and what not to," McCarty said. "We have guys who are fairly patient at the plate. You've got to really focus in on one area, one pitch. Of course, the pitch you're going to look for in that situation is a fastball and if it's a situation where you like it, then you let it fly. And if not, you just have to lay off."

The victory was the Red Sox' seventh this season in their final at-bat. It came after a demoralizing eighth that saw Keith Foulke, who had allowed only one earned run over the first two months of the season, hang a changeup and surrender a crushing three-run homer to Raul Ibanez, giving the Mariners a 7-5 edge.

"It's not rocket science," said Foulke. "I left a ball up and he hit it into the seats."

"From where we were earlier," said Seattle manager Bob Melvin, "looking at a perfect game, and then all of a sudden, we have the lead off their closer who's given up one run this year. I felt were were in a pretty good position."

But just as quickly as they had fumbled away the lead, the Sox pulled even again.

With Varitek on third (single) and McCarty (double) on second, pinch-hitter Johnny Damon chipped in with a sacrifice fly and Dominique singled to right, creating the 7-7 tie.

"It's an unbelievable feeling to contribute to a team like this," said Dominique, whose RBI came on his first major-league hit.

Yesterday, a lot of fellow newcomers and role players could feel the same pride.