08:53 AM EDT on Wednesday, May 25, 2005

BY STEVEN KRASNER
Journal Sports Writer

TORONTO -- There are nights when a pitcher makes mistakes and gets lucky, the bad pitches somehow turning into outs.

Reuters photo

Red Sox pitcher Alan Embree, left, trudges off the field after serving up a three-run homer in the ninth inning to Reed Johnson, rounding third at right.

Last night, however, was not one of those nights for the Boston Red Sox.

They wound up trudging off the Rogers Centre turf 9-6 losers, as Toronto left fielder Reed Johnson triumphantly toured the bases, courtesy of his walkoff three-run homer to dead center off Alan Embree with one out in the ninth.

A broken-bat single by Orlando Hudson on a tough pitch by Embree opened the uprising, and Johnson's home run followed a four-pitch walk to ex-Providence College star John McDonald (3-for-3).

It was Johnson's second blast of the game. The other came against Mike Timlin in the seventh, a two-run clout to left-center that gave the Jays a 6-5 lead.

That homer, which snapped Timlin's scoreless streak at 15 2/3 innings, forced David Wells to settle for a no-decision in a mostly encouraging outing in his second start since leaving the disabled list.

Baseball is a game of what-have-you-done-for-me-lately, so Timlin and Embree, who had been pitching well for the Sox, were simply bullpen arsonists last night.

And then there was Wells. The 42-year-old left-hander, who was strafed for nine hits and seven runs in only 1 1/3 innings by Oakland in his first post-DL start last Wednesday, was decidedly better last night. But he failed to hold an early 3-0 lead, surrendering four runs in the fourth, with rookie Aaron Hill (two-run triple) and veteran catcher Gregg Zaun (two-run homer) doing the damage.

Hill hit a 2-and-0 cookie of a fastball to right-center. Zaun launched an 0-and-2 curve for his homer to left.

Wells, who sailed through the other innings he pitched, was very hard on himself after the game.

"The one pitch I'd want back is the curveball (to Zaun)," said Wells, who threw 84 pitches and said he felt no

discomfort from the foot sprain that cost him time on the DL.

"I was trying to bounce it and I left it up. Who would have thought Gregg would be looking for an 0-and-2 curve. That's going to haunt me all night. You can't make mistakes. It doesn't matter who's hitting," said Wells.

Wells' record stayed at 2-4, and the Sox are 2-5 now in his starts. After being charged with five earned runs, thanks in part to Timlin's gopher ball, Wells' earned-run average jumped up a bit, to an embarrassing 6.81.

"I have to be better," said Wells, whose next start will come in Yankee Stadium on Sunday.

"I keep pitching like that and I don't expect to be here. You can't be giving up five runs a game. Granted we have a great offense, but this is getting more discouraging and more discouraging. But I'll keep my head up. I'll keep battling," he said.

Wells would have preferred to stay in the game after McDonald's soft one-out single to right, but he said he couldn't quibble with manager Terry Francona's decision to call for Timlin to protect a 5-4 lead.

"Not a bad move. Tito was going to a guy who has been successful all year," said Wells.

Not last night, though. Timlin, who entered the game with a microscopic E.R.A. of 0.86 in 21 innings, made a mistake to Johnson -- a high fastball -- and paid for it. It was the first homer allowed by Timlin this year. Indeed, it was only the third run all year charged to the veteran right-hander, who hadn't allowed a run since Tampa Bay nicked him for one on April 16.

Suddenly the Sox were down, 6-5. But embattled shortstop Edgar Renteria tripled, leading off the eight, and David Ortiz (2-for-4, 3 RBI) singled him home, tying the game.

Embree was called on in the ninth to try to preserve the tie and send the game into extra innings, with Francona opting for the left-hander over Keith Foulke because of lineup matchups.

Embree retired Zaun on a grounder to short. But Hudson fouled off three pitches with two strikes, broke his bat on a down-and-away pitch and still managed to dunk it into left for a single. McDonald's walk hurt, too.

"I was trying to hold the runner and I spiked a couple of pitches (into the dirt)," said Embree. "I just lost it."

He lost McDonald, but the game wasn't lost until Johnson bashed the 0-and-1 pitch, the fifth homer served up by Embree in 19 2/3 innings.

"I just made a bad pitch," said Embree, who had been scored upon in only one of his last eight outings. "I wanted it down and away and it ran up and over the plate. Just bad location. I made a mistake to a good hitter and he hit it. It was one of those nights when something good (the pitch to Hudson) didn't work out and something bad (the pitch to Johnson) didn't work out."

It was, indeed, one of those nights, and that wasn't a good thing for the Red Sox.