BOSTON -- David Ortiz and Kevin Youkilis both rode the wave of two giant Red Sox comebacks in 2004 and 2007. Now it's time to see if they can help lead a third.

Ortiz helped carry the Sox out of a 3-0 hole in the 2004 ALCS against the Yankees and a 3-1 hole in the '07 ALCS against the Indians. He's delivered the big hits and made the biggest plays. Youkilis was a bit player in 2004 but also played a heavy role last October.

"Like I say, you still got to believe. We've been there before. We have to play the way we played before, simple,'' said Ortiz after this Red Sox team fell into a 3-1 hole last night against the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 4 of the ALCS.

The Rays have had their way with the Red Sox in the two games in Boston, scoring 22 runs on 27 hits. The pitching needs to get better, and the season will rest on Daisuke Matsuzaka's shoulders Thursday night in Game 5.

"He doesn't have to throw a shutout," said Youkilis. ``We have to score some runs, but we have to try to hold them down a little bit. That's the biggest thing. It just seems like balls are going over the wall, balls are bleeding in there. It's one of those things where a team is swinging the bats good and things are falling through and scoring runs. We have to stop that, somehow, some way.''

Youkilis dismissed the ugly margins of defeat the Red Sox are dealing with. After all, Boston was crushed by the Yankees in Game 3 at Fenway in 2004 and still charged back with three consecutive victories.

"I wouldn't say shell-shocked. It's just baseball. The Yankees were crushing us in 2004,'' he said. "We can't be shocked. It doesn't matter how much you lose by or how much you win by. A win is a win, a loss is a loss right now. You just go out and play.''

Youkilis says he hopes Wednesday's day off will cool down the Rays and give his team a bit of time to regroup.

"They're on fire right now,'' he said. "Hopefully this off day will cool them down a little bit and gets us back in the right mode to try to win Game 5. That's all we're trying to do. We've been here before where we had to do that, and that's always our mind-set. Just try to win one game and go from there.''

kmcnamar@projo.com