BOSTON -- So many of the Red Sox games come down to a pressure-packed, late-inning pick-your-poison decision for the opposing manager.

Pitch to David Ortiz or pitch to Manny Ramirez?

The Angels' Mike Scioscia was faced with that dilemma in a tie game in the ninth yesterday. A runner at second and one out with Ortiz scheduled to bat next against hard-throwing Angels closer Francisco Rodriguez.

Ortiz already was 3-for-4 with three RBI, boosting his major-league-leading total to 98. Ramirez was 1-for-2 with a long sacrifice fly. Rodriguez is a right-handed pitcher. Ortiz bats left-handed; Ramirez right-handed.

Scioscia went with the percentages of righty-versus-righty and set up a potential inning-ending double-play possibility, having Rodriguez issue an intentional walk to Ortiz.

The decision couldn't have worked out any better for the Angels. Ramirez bounced the first pitch to third baseman Maicer Izturis, who started a snappy rally-killing, inning-ending double play, sending the game into extra innings.

Ah, but in the 11th, Scioscia didn't have much choice. He had to pitch to Ortiz with runners at first and second and two out, or else walk him and load the bases for Ramirez. And managers are loathe to fill the bases in such situations, leaving the pitcher with no margin for error.

So Scioscia brought in left-hander J.C. Romero to face Ortiz. And on the 1-and-1 pitch, Ortiz foiled the Angels' shift by doing something he rarely does -- he hit a ground ball to where the shortstop is normally positioned.

But because shortstop Orlando Cabrera was swung over behind the second-base bag, the routinely hit grounder rolled through no-man's land, also known as the infield dirt, and resulted in yet another walkoff hit for Ortiz, pushing his RBI total to 99 in 101 games.

Dead-eye Manny

The Angels clearly have no respect for Ramirez's arm.

In the 11th, with catcher Mike Napoli at second and one out, third-base coach Dino Ebel waved home the slow runner on Izturis' base hit through the shortstop hole.

Ramirez fielded the ball as Napoli touched third base. Ramirez, who plays shallow, made a quick, accurate one-hop throw that easily beat Napoli for the out at the plate, keeping the game tied at 6-6.

Had not Ebel taken the major gamble, the Angels would have had runners at first and third with one out against struggling Red Sox right-hander Julian Tavarez.

Bunt attempts

As a rule, the Red Sox don't attempt to sacrifice much.

Boston has only 13 sacrifice bunts this year, the second-lowest total to the Blue Jays' 9 in the American League. But the Sox put on the bunt play twice yesterday.

In the eighth, down two runs and with runners at first and second with none out, Jason Varitek was given the bunt sign. He fouled off two attempts, but the Sox got lucky when the next pitch from Scot Shields was wild, moving up the runners.

With the game tied and a runner at second with none out in the ninth, Mark Loretta got the bunt sign on the first pitch. He took it for a ball. The Sox took the bunt sign off. The next pitch was also out of the strike zone, but Loretta popped up the next pitch to the left side of the infield, failing to move up the runner.

Umps say no -- twice

The Sox' Alex Gonzalez suffered a painful "strike" in his first at-bat.

Gonzalez tried to hold up on a Jered Weaver fastball that was bearing in on him. The ball hit his hand, which was holding the bat, as Gonzalez tried to check his swing and dodge the pitch.

Plate umpire Jim Reynolds granted Gonzalez first base on a hit-by-pitch call. But Angels manager Mike Scioscia argued that call with Reynolds, who checked with first-base umpire Kerwin Danley.

Danley ruled it a foul ball/strike, correctly ruling, as replays showed, that Gonzalez had made an attempt to hit the ball, at which point the hand becomes part of the bat. So if the hand is hit in an attempt swing the bat and hit the ball, it's just as if the ball has hit only the wood.

So because the ball ricocheted into foul territory, it was ruled a foul ball. Had the ball gone into fair territory after striking Gonzalez, it would have been live, a fair ball.

Gonzalez was called back from first base, with Boston manager Terry Francona losing his appeal to Danley. Gonzalez reluctantly got back into the batter's box. And he swung and missed Weaver's next pitch for an inning-ending strikeout with runners at first and third.

The Sox put up another beef in the eighth, contending that when Varitek swung and missed for a strikeout with runners at second and third and none out that the ball had hit the dirt, therefore entitling Varitek to first base because the Angels hadn't tagged him or thrown to first for the putout.

But the ruling was that Angels catcher Jose Molina had gloved the ball just above the dirt.

Beckett finds the mix

Boston starter Josh Beckett had trouble commanding his fastball early.

But he kept on throwing it.

In the first inning, of his 24 pitches, 22 were fastballs. Beckett, who walked two and gave up two hits in the Angels' two-run outburst, didn't throw anything other than a fastball until his 15th pitch of the inning. He snapped off an 81-mile-an-hour curveball that badly fooled Anderson, who waved and missed the ball.

Beckett, though, went right back to the fastball on his next pitch and Anderson smoked it into the right-field corner for an RBI double.

The right-hander began to mix in more of his pitches the second and third times around the batting order.

For instance, he used two curveballs in making Vladimir Guerrero look sick for an inning-ending whiff in the third. In the fourth, he used a change-up to set up a curveball in fooling and fanning Garret Anderson on a half-swing, and four straight breaking balls had Juan Rivera lunging each time, eventually put out on a weak off-balance tapper to third.

The trend continued in the fifth, when Beckett made Molina look silly in whiffing him on a curveball. And Beckett's 102nd and final pitch of the game was a curveball, which he slipped past Molina for a strikeout that ended the sixth.

Runs by theft

There are some who say the stolen base is overrated when it comes to producing runs. And maybe those experts can trot out statistical data to support their contention.

But very clearly yesterday, the stolen base helped the Angels manufacture a run in the fifth inning.

Speedy Chone Figgins (walk, stolen base) and Izturis (walk) were on second and first, respectively, with one out. They took off on a double-steal attempt on an 0-and-1 pitch to Cabrera.

Varitek made a good throw to third baseman Mike Lowell, and it was a close play, but Figgins was called safe (replays suggested umpire Bob Davidson made the correct call), with Izturis moving up to second.

With the infield in, Cabrera hit a high hopper to Gonzalez. Figgins took off on contact, and, with an outstanding head-first slide around Varitek's left leg was able to slide his left hand across the back point of the plate for the run that put the Angels on top, 3-1.

A sloppy first

The Sox' fundamentals were a bit questionable in giving the Angels an extra base in the first inning.

With Figgins at third and Izturis at second, each of whom has good speed, and none out, Cabrera lifted a fly ball to medium deep right-center.

Trot Nixon got under the lazy fly, and set himself to throw home. Nixon had little chance of throwing out Figgins, but he threw home anyway. The ball died as it got to the cutoff man, first baseman Kevin Youkilis, but Youkilis didn't cut it off.

That permitted Izturis to tag and make it to third base with one out as the ball bounced weakly to the plate, in position to score on a ground ball with the Sox infield playing back instead of at second base, where a hit would be needed to score him.

The extra base, though, proved to be a moot point when Garret Anderson pulled a two-out RBI double into the right-field corner.

The Ortiz gambit

Why not take a chance?

The lumbering Ortiz, who had rumbled around the bases and scored from first on a double Friday night, elected to try for a double on his run-scoring hit down the right-field line in the opening inning. The ball kicked off the fence where it juts out down the first-base line and bounced toward the Angels right fielder.

Had it been strong-armed Guerrero in right, Ortiz might not have chanced it. But it was Juan Rivera, so Ortiz rounded first and headed for second.

Rivera, though, did a great Guerrero impression. He barehanded the ball and in one quick motion rifled a one-hop throw to Cabrera. The ball beat Ortiz, so even though it appeared as if Cabrera applied the old phantom tag, the Sox designated hitter was called out by umpire Gary Cederstrom.

Heat gets to Guerrero

Guerrero, the Angels' cleanup hitter, left the game in the fifth inning because of what was called "fatigue."

It was a hot day. The game-time temperature was 90 degrees. Guerrero, though, was serving as the designated hitter, so it wasn't as if he were out in his customary spot in right field.

Guerrero, who was batting. 316 with 20 homers and 78 RBI, saw only six pitches yesterday. He swung at five of them with no success, finishing his day with a pair of whiffs.

skrasner@projo.com /(401) 277-7340