BOSTON — David Ortiz kept coming up in key situations with a base open and the ejected Manny Ramirez in the clubhouse, forcing Texas manager Ron Washington to make a decision.

Win some, lose some for Washington.

The Rangers came out smelling like a rose in the first two instances, but Ortiz won the final two battles and helped the Sox overcome a five-run deficit and notch a stirring, come-from-behind 6-5 victory yesterday at Fenway Park.

In the third, the Sox had a runner at third with two outs. Ortiz strode to the plate. On deck behind Ortiz, Boston’s designated hitter, was not the red-hot Ramirez, the Sox’ normal cleanup hitter.

Instead, it was journeyman Joe Thurston, a utility player with 59 career big-league at-bats called up from Pawtucket last week. Thurston had replaced Ramirez, who was ejected after arguing a called third strike in the second inning.

Granted, Ortiz has been struggling. His average at game time was a paltry .141. Nevertheless, he has been one of the most feared clutch hitters in the game the last several seasons, and in the series he had stung Texas with a grand slam on Friday night and a score-tying RBI single Saturday night.

Still, the situation had all the earmarks of an intentional walk to Ortiz to have Kevin Millwood facing Thurston with runners at the corners.

Washington, though, elected to have Millwood pitch to Ortiz, or at least pitch around him and hope he would get himself out by chasing a bad pitch. And Washington’s move paid off. Ortiz, a tad overanxious, hit a weak grounder off the end of his bat to the right side and was thrown out, ending the inning.

The Texas manager, however, apparently didn’t want to press his luck when a similar situation came up in the fifth.

Boston had runners at second and third with two outs when Ortiz came up again. Texas still was on top, 2-0. Catcher Gerald Laird went to the mound to chat with Millwood, and Washington hopped out of the dugout and joined them.

This time, Washington instructed Millwood to issue an intentional walk to Ortiz, filling the bases for Thurston. The plan worked out. Thurston stung the ball on one hard hop to shortstop, which Michael Young easily turned into an inning-ending forceout.

Ortiz came up with a runner at second and none out in the seventh, with Texas ahead, 5-0. The Rangers naturally pitched to Ortiz this time, and he ripped an RBI single to right-center.

Then, in the eighth, with Texas clinging to a 5-3 advantage with a runner at second and two outs, Washington brought in his closer, left-hander C.J. Wilson to face Ortiz. The Sox’ DH foiled the shift with an RBI single to short right, beating the throw from second baseman Ian Kinsler, who had made a diving stop of the hard-hit ball. Jed Lowrie scored from second on the play, making it a 5-4 game.

And Ortiz tallied the tying run on Dustin Pedroia’s pinch-hit double to right-center.

First-pitch swinging

As the game went on, the Red Sox did a lot of first-pitch swinging against Millwood, with varying results.

They noticed that his first pitch tended to be a get-me-over fastball. He wasn’t nibbling.

Of the last 14 batters to face the right-hander, six put the first pitch in play. Kevin Cash (single), Jacoby Ellsbury (single) and Thurston (fielder’s choice grounder) hit the first pitch in the fifth inning; Ellsbury (popup to short) did so in the sixth, and Jed Lowrie (double) and Ortiz (RBI single) hit Millwood’s first pitch in the seventh.

Not afraid to sacrifice

Washington likes to make use of the sacrifice bunt as a strategy.

The Rangers had successfully executed seven sacrifice bunts, tying them with Toronto for the league lead. And they added one in the second inning yesterday, which made it three in the last two games against the Sox.

Not too many teams rely on the sacrifice bunt these days.

One prevailing thought is that, unless it’s a crucial spot late in a game where you need one run to tie or go ahead, the bunt represents a wasted opportunity to further a rally. You play for one, that’s all you get, goes the theory.

Yesterday’s situation was a perfect illustration of that.

Texas had a 1-0 lead when singles by Hank Blalock and Frank Catalanotto put runners at first and second with none out in the second inning. A big inning was brewing early in the game.

That brought up David Murphy, batting seventh in the order. Washington called for the bunt. Murphy complied, giving up an out to move the runners up a base, which brought up the number eight hitter, Laird, a .250 hitter (2-for-8) in his career against Sox starter Tim Wakefield.

The Sox played their infield back, Laird hit a ground ball to short, which delivered the run that made it 2-0. That, though, was all Texas got out of a first-and-second, none-out opportunity against a Red Sox team that was leading the league in runs scored.

Slick base-stealer

Julio Lugo may not be the smoothest fielder in the league, but he is one of the best base-stealers. He knows how to read pitchers.

Perched at second base with one out in the fifth, Lugo saw Millwood turn his back and look toward him. As soon as Millwood turned his head back to face the plate, Lugo started running, figuring Millwood had committed himself to throwing a pitch.

Lugo’s timing was perfect. He had such a great jump, Laird didn’t bother to make a throw. The play also once again displayed Ellsbury’s baserunning smarts. Ellsbury was on first base when Lugo took off. Ellsbury saw Lugo go, so he took off, too, making it safely into second for a double steal, putting two runners in scoring position with one out.

Neither runner wound up scoring, but the double steal was a reminder that this year’s Red Sox team is not a one-dimensional slugging team.

skrasner@projo.com