The White Sox’ Alexei Ramirez beats the tag by Red Sox catcher Kevin Cash on a double by Joe Crede during the top of the ninth inning of yesterday’s game at Fenway Park. Chicago won, 4-2, and kept Boston from sweeping.

The Providence Journal / Bob Breidenbach

BOSTON — The right man was up at the plate at the right time for the Boston Red Sox.

Gritty Dustin Pedroia, the Sox’ hot-hitting cleanup hitter, stepped into the batter’s box in the bottom of the ninth with two outs, runners at the corners and Boston trailing the Chicago White Sox by two runs.

Two pitches into the at-bat, after pinch-runner Coco Crisp had swiped second, the tying runs were in scoring position.

Fenway Park was rocking, expecting another hit from Pedroia, who was 9-for-11 in the series as he stood in against flame-throwing White Sox closer Bobby Jenks.

Unfortunately for Boston, Jenks got the best of Pedroia, retiring him on a fly ball to shallow left as the White Sox escaped with a 4-2 win and prevented a sweep.

The Red Sox, meanwhile, were left to digest a best-case ninth-inning scenario that didn’t pan out, dropping Boston 5 ½ games (six in the loss column) behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East.

“There wasn’t one guy who didn’t want to see him up in that situation,” said Boston left fielder Jason Bay of Pedroia.

“He’s been the MVP since I’ve been here,” said Bay, who joined the Sox after a July 31 trade that sent Manny Ramirez to the Dodgers. “Everything seemed to transpire to set him up, but it just didn’t work out.”

Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen, who engaged in some respectful horseplay with Pedroia through words and actions throughout the series, wasn’t the least bit thrilled to see Pedroia at the plate in that situation.

“He puts you under a lot of pressure,” said Guillen. “He’s the type of player that keeps coming and coming. You don’t want to see this kid right now with the (tying) run on base and he’s at the plate. The last person you want to see out there is him. It’s a good thing we made a good pitch and found a way to get him out.”

Pedroia, who rarely offers praise to the opposition, figuratively tipped his cap to Jenks, who allowed a run but hung on for his 27th save.

“He threw me a slider, down,” said Pedroia. “It was a good pitch. I just hit it at the end of the bat and popped it up. He’s got good stuff. There’s a reason he’s got a 1.6 (1.82 earned-run average). We fought back. That’s all we could ask for at the end of the game was to have a chance to win. I just didn’t get that big hit.”

The loss was difficult to swallow for a few reasons.

Tim Wakefield, for instance, gave the Red Sox a solid outing in his second start since returning from the disabled list. The knuckleballer permitted six hits and three runs in six innings, stung only by Jim Thome’s two-run homer in the first and back-to-back doubles by Thome and Paul Konerko in the sixth in his 82-pitch effort.

The third run was especially irritating for the Sox.

With two outs and none on, Wakefield and the Red Sox thought Thome had committed to his swing on an 0-and-2 pitch. But third-base umpire Eric Cooper, who had rung up David Ortiz on a similarly close checked swing, gave Thome the benefit of the doubt, ruling Thome hadn’t gone around on one of the toughest judgments a base umpire has to make.

Thome took advantage of the call, lofting Wakefield’s next pitch for an opposite-field double high off the wall and just fair for a double, putting him in position to score on the double Konerko pulled into the left-field corner.

“It’s very frustrating,” said catcher Kevin Cash of the call. “When you get in that situation you want the call to go your way. Whether it was the right or wrong call, you still have to make good pitches after that, and (Thome) got a pitch he could handle.”

“That’s the way the game goes sometimes,” added manager Terry Francona. “Sometimes when you need a break you don’t get it.”

The Red Sox also didn’t get the sweep they were hoping to collect. Justin Masterson was nicked for an insurance run in the ninth, and while Jed Lowrie’s groundout delivered a run off Jenks, Pedroia’s Superman cape fell off for an instant and he was unable to come through, forcing Boston to settle for two out of three.

And while the goal heading into every three-game set is to win the series, the Red Sox now have been unable to seal the deal in their last two, against New York and Chicago.

“Taking two out of three is a decent consolation prize, but after you win the first two, it would have been nice to get the sweep,” said Bay.

Next Game

Tonight

vs. Baltimore

7:05

skrasner@projo.com