Somehow, there was no other way to wind up yet another intense Red Sox-Yankees series.

David Ortiz versus Mariano Rivera.

One run already in against Rivera. The bases loaded. Bottom of the ninth. Two outs. New York leading, 4-3. The sellout crowd of 36,533 at Fenway Park roaring as Ortiz stepped into the batter's box.

It was a classic confrontation between, as Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia put it, "the best clutch hitter in baseball, bottom line, facing the best closer of all-time."

Ortiz knew what to expect. One 90-mph-plus cut fastball after another. That's Rivera's bread-and-butter pitch. His placid attitude on the mound belies the nastiness of the pitch. Here it is, try and hit it, says the right-hander's demeanor and delivery.

Rivera's first one zipped in at 94 mph. Ortiz, a left-handed hitter, fouled it back. The next one came in at 91 and was outside. The third one, at 92, was high, giving Ortiz the advantage in the duel at 2 and 1. Rivera's next pitch, at 93, cut in on Ortiz's hands. Ortiz made contact, hitting a weak bouncer foul down the first-base line.

The next pitch, on a 2-and-2 count, also was at 93. This one also cut in on Ortiz's hands. He took his usual mighty cut -- but the ball was in on him, and Ortiz only managed a weak popup into shallow center that was caught by Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter, the hero in New York's victory because of his two-out, three-run homer in the eighth off Curt Schilling.

"I went out there and fought like I normally do," said Ortiz of the at-bat. "Obviously he made some good pitches and won the battle."

"The man we wanted at the plate was David. But he's human," said third baseman Mike Lowell, who went 3 for 4, including a homer, and knocked in two runs.

Pedroia preceded Ortiz and had a battle of his own with Rivera, a confrontation the rookie won, earning an eight-pitch walk that brought Big Papi to the plate with a chance for another one of his patented walkoff hits.

Pedroia, a right-handed hitter, was down in the count at 0 and 2 after cutters of 93 and 94 mph, respectively. The others ranged from 91 to 94 as Rivera pitched him away for most of the at-bat before missing inside with the last two pitches, filling the bases.

"When I got to two strikes I was trying to move it to the next guy. I wasn't trying to hit a homer. I wasn't trying to do anything. I was trying to get David to the plate. I had to fight my way on," said Pedroia.

Pedroia was struck by the crowd's reaction as he neared first base after drawing the free pass.

"I remember they announced David's name and the ground was shaking (because of the fans' roar). That was pretty awesome," said Pedroia. "Mariano versus David. That's fun. But Mariano's tough."

Tough enough to get the better of Ortiz and the Red Sox this time.

Recapturing a bit of glory

Two aging pitchers. Two pitchers trying to grab a little extra glory as their careers wind down. Two former power pitchers who know how to pitch trying to reinvent themselves, to some degree, still able to get outs and give their teams a chance to win.

So it was with Boston’s Curt Schilling and Roger Clemens last night.

Through six innings, they both virtually willed themselves to success.

Schilling looked more in control while early on Clemens didn’t look like the Rocket of old. In the first inning he just looked like an old Rocket, which isn’t surprising since he turned 45 last month and had two cortisone shots in his ailing right elbow after his last start, on Sept. 3.

And Clemens seemed to know he was pitching on fumes last night.

In the first inning, Clemens began barking at plate umpire Lance Barksdale after a 3-and-1 slider was called inside, for a walk that put runners on first and second with one out.

“That was a good pitch. Come on,” is what some lip-readers saw Clemens yell in Barksdale’s direction. Clemens was still badgering Barksdale after the next batter, Mike Lowell, chopped an RBI single through the shortstop hole, giving the Sox a quick 1-0 lead.

In the old days, when he was younger, or even over the past few years when he still was a dominant pitcher for the most part, Clemens might have been irritated by such calls. But he wouldn’t be as likely to get on an umpire so quickly.

The third batter of the game? On his 12th pitch?

It sure seemed like a sign that Clemens knew he was on borrowed time, that he had very little fuel in his tank and that he was desperate for every strike.

Maybe Clemens’ little tantrum paid off. He got the benefit of the doubt on a letters-high 3-and-2 fastball to J.D. Drew leading off the fourth. Barksdale called it strike three.

And while he often looked to be laboring, the bottom line for Clemens was six innings pitched, two hits and the one run, which was unearned. The right-hander fanned four: all in a row, the last two outs in the third and the first two in the fourth. Clemens, whose fastball topped out at 91 mph, was lifted with the game 1-1, having thrown 87 pitches (49 for strikes), a high percentage of them sliders.

Schilling, meanwhile, mowed down the Yanks without seemingly working up a sweat. He had the New York hitters off-balance as he mixed in a fastball that generally hovered around 89 mph with a splitter, a cutter, a curveball and a changeup. Through seven innings, he had thrown only 69 pitches.

Gold Glove at first

After seeing Jason Giambi butcher several balls at first base over the first two games of the series, and noting Giambi was just a .222 career hitter against Boston starter Curt Schilling, Yankee manager Joe Torre plugged in Doug Mientkiewicz, a Gold Glove caliber, at the position.

Torre looked like a genius in the first inning.

With runners at first and second and two outs, Jason Varitek scalded a bouncer just inside the first-base line.

Mientkiewicz made an outstanding diving grab of the ball, got up, saw that Clemens might not beat Varitek to the bag and raced to the base, sliding head-first and tagging it for the inning-ending out.

The play saved at least one run, and quite possibly two, which would have put Boston two or three runs ahead of New York. Mientkiewicz also went 2-for-3 against Schilling, making him 5-for-13 (.385) in his career against the right-hander.