OAKLAND -- Under the circumstances, it would have been an improbable, stirring victory for the Boston Red Sox.

They had endured a long night on Sunday, battling the New York Yankees at Fenway Park until after midnight and then having to fly across the country, arriving at their hotel rooms in San Francisco about 5:30 in the morning, only 13 hours or so before they were to play the Oakland Athletics last night.

They were tired and cranky with the schedule-makers.

They were facing Dan Haren, arguably the American League's best, stingiest pitcher at this stage of the season. They were two runs behind in the ninth inning, down to their last out before rallying to pull even. They worked out of a bases-loaded, none-out jam in the bottom of the ninth.

They came within a few feet of a two-out, two-run homer by David Ortiz in the 10th, only to have it turn into a jarring out-by-10-feet play at the plate, with Dustin Pedroia playing the role of dead duck.

They survived a challenge in the bottom of the 10th, with manager Terry Francona sticking with his plan to rest three of his relievers, including his two best, Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon.

But ultimately the exhausted Red Sox couldn't pull it off. They were beaten, 5-4, on Eric Chavez's two-out homer to right off Kyle Snyder in the 11th inning at McAfee Coliseum.

"I left a ball up and over the plate," sighed Snyder. "He's a good hitter. He'll take advantage of that. It was a mistake and not a very well-timed one."

Given that he was the one who served up the game-losing gopher ball, it was difficult for Snyder to find a silver lining in the night as the Red Sox lost for the fourth time in their last five games, one of the team's biggest skids in this so-far charmed season.

"We showed the resilience this team has," said Snyder. "We're tough. We didn't quit. But a loss is a loss. It's never fun no matter how the course of action leads up to it."

There was quite a course of action on this night. Francona, trying to give some of his starters a rest at the start of this seven-game trip, had three of his normal bench players in the starting lineup. And before the first pitch, he had all four of them in, because Coco Crisp had an upset stomach, forcing Wily Mo Pena into the start in center field.

By the ninth inning, despite solo homers by Ortiz and Pena, whose misplay in center had helped Oakland score an extra run in the second, it looked as if the Red Sox were cooked. They were trailing, 4-2, with a runner at third and two outs against new Oakland closer and ex-Soxer Alan Embree.

But Jason Varitek, pinch hitting for struggling $70-million right fielder J.D. Drew, dunked an off-the-end-of-the-bat blooper into right for an RBI, making it a 4-3 game. Crisp, feeling a bit better, was sent in to run for him.

The move was a stroke of genius. Crisp took off on a 1-and-1 pitch that Pena drilled to right-center. The speedy Crisp scored without a throw, tying the game.

"He's the only guy we have who scores on that play," said Francona. "When he scored, you could see the emotion in the dugout."

That emotion was turned upside-down for a few moments in the bottom of the ninth, when the Athletics filled the bases on two walks and an error. But with the infield and outfield playing in, J.C. Romero got Chavez to go fishing for strike three and induced Bobby Crosby to bounce a 2-and-0 pitch into an inning-ending, staying-alive, third-to-home-to-first double play.

"That's part of the game," said Romero, who entered after the first two batters reached against Joel Pineiro. "It was good for me, but I don't dwell on it because we lost."

The odds looked to be in the Sox' favor after escaping that jam. And with Pedroia on first and two outs, Ortiz looked as if he had cashed in those odds. He crushed a pitch from left-hander Ron Flores deep to center. The ball missed by a few feet of being a home run.

"The ball doesn't carry to center field here at night," said Ortiz. "I can't hit a ball harder than that. But I was thinking about (Pedroia) scoring."

So was third-base coach DeMarlo Hale. He waved Pedroia around third. But the ball had taken a hard hop off the fence, right to center fielder Mark Kotsay, who made an accurate, one-hop throw to relay man Crosby, the Athletics' shortstop. Crosby fired the ball in the air to catcher Jason Kendall, who slapped the tag on Pedroia, applying the leather and the ball to the left side of Pedroia's face, for the final out of the inning.

If Hale hadn't sent Pedroia, the Athletics likely would have walked Manny Ramirez, bringing up Kevin Youkilis to the plate with the bases filled and two outs. But Francona wasn't about to second-guess Hale.

"I would have sent him, too," said Francona. "The ball just bounced right back to Kotsay. You have to take a shot there. But they executed."

"I didn't have much of a lead at first because they had a lefty (on the mound)," said Pedroia. "I was out by 10 feet. I saw it (bounce off the wall) out of the corner of my eye, but I knew DeMarlo would send me. It was the right play. They made a great relay. Hats off to them."

And the "facial" that Kendall applied to him as he got to home plate?

"I didn't know what to do (when getting to the plate) because I was out by so much. That (tag) was no big deal. He's got to tag me out. He probably thought (the tag) was at waist level, but I'm shorter than the average person," joked Pedroia.

Snyder got out of trouble in the 10th, when Oakland had two on and one out. But one pitch got away from him in the 11th and Chavez lost it, sending the Sox to a defeat and grasping at a moral victory.

"We had a lot of adversity but we're not giving up for anybody," said Pedroia. "That shows the character this team has."

"The travel day doesn't matter," said Francona. "We showed up and did a very good job of playing. We lost a heartbreaking game. We did a lot of good things, (especially) on the road. We just didn't do enough."