BOSTON — The Red Sox did not have their ace reliever, Jonathan Papelbon, available for last night’s game against the Yankees.

Papelbon had thrown 46 pitches in a span of less than 24 hours in back-to-back games in Toronto heading into this weekend’s series with New York.

And for seven innings, it didn’t look as if it would matter.

But an improbable rally by the Red Sox, mostly at Mariano Rivera’s expense, forced Boston manager Terry Francona to choose a closer-du-jour, and he selected left-hander Hideki Okajima, the "other" Japanese pitching import the organization signed over the winter.

Okajima has been pitching well, getting out right-handers as well as left-handers, thanks to his changeup, earning confidence from Francona. And last night he boosted his own confidence and the team’s by working his way through three of the top Yankee hitters in nailing down Boston’s wild 7-6 victory at Fenway Park.

Okajima set down Derek Jeter on a groundout. Then, after walking Bobby Abreu on some close pitches, he came back from a 3-and-1 count and retired Alex Rodriguez, who already had clubbed a pair of homers, on a soft liner to second.

Then he overmatched rookie Kevin Thompson, who had replaced Jason Giambi as a pinch runner in the eighth, with a game-ending strikeout for his first major league save.

"He’s absolutely flown under the radar," said starter Curt Schilling, who was taken off the hook by the Sox’ rally. "He’s been a little bit better than people thought he might be."

"The way we won, not wanting to have Pap available, is good for our staff and good for our team," said Francona.

Being called upon as the closer was a surprise to Okajima.

"I did not know before the game," said Okajima. "I wasn’t expecting to go in and pitch in an important situation like this. I never expected that things like this would happen to me today. It was a very precious moment for me."

Okajima said he had a game plan against A-Rod.

"I was thinking the absolute thing I have to avoid was the home run," he said. "I could allow a hit, but never a home run."

Cora comes through again

For the second day in a row, utilityman Alex Cora notched the game-winning hit in a Red Sox comeback.

Last night it was a soft looper, to be accurate. But it came against a drawn-in infield and delivered the tie-breaking run with one out in the eighth inning.

Cora said he hit a cutter.

"It was up and in, his bread-and-butter pitch," said Cora, who had entered the game at second base after Dustin Pedroia had been taken out for a pinch hitter.

"I got just enough wood on it. If the infield hadn’t been playing in, it would have been a popup to shortstop," he said.

Give credit for the winning hit to Papelbon, and a cookie.

Cora was giving Papelbon the business about the junk food he had been eating.

"I told him, ‘You need some power food,’ so I gave him a chocolate chip cookie and told him ‘watch what happens tonight,’ " said Papelbon. "It was the chocolate chip cookie that did it."

Snyder comes up big

Kyle Snyder got two outs last night.

And they may have been the two biggest outs of the game.

He entered the game with the Sox trailing, 6-2, in the eighth. There were runners at first and third with one out. He whiffed Melky Cabrera, and then, after a walk, retired Johnny Damon on a bouncer to second, stranding the runner at third in what had seemed to be an easy insurance run for the Yanks.

That became a big point when the Sox rallied for five runs and the victory in their half of the eighth.

"I knew we were four runs down, and I wanted to keep that run there because scoring five or six runs for this team is something we can do," said Snyder.

A matter of respect

While the Sox got the better of Rivera last night, and have consistently made life difficult for him over the last four seasons, catcher Jason Varitek still respects the veteran right-hander.

"He’s the best in the game," said Varitek, whose key single contributed to Rivera’s blown save. "You have to have a lot of luck to beat him. He’s tremendous."

Quite a string

Okajima, who earned his first major league save, has now worked seven consecutive scoreless innings over his last seven appearances. He hasn’t allowed a hit in his last six outings, covering six full innings and over his last 3 2/3 innings pitched, has recorded seven strikeouts.

Here and there

The comeback was the Red Sox’ biggest since May 7, 2004 when they fought back from a 6-2 deficit after seven innings against Kansas City to win 7-6. In that game, the Sox scored two in the eighth and three more in the ninth.

Yesterday marked the second straight game the Sox had won in their final at-bat. Last season, they had 17 such wins

smcadam@projo.com