''Beating the Red Sox, it's like the boy that takes your lunch money,'' Gomes mused. ''If you can get him back one or two times, it makes it that much better.''
Get back, yes. And taketh away. The Sox, atop the AL East for 64 consecutive days and 88 of 89 since June 24, are in second place, a half-game behind the hated Yankees.
''If we can't make up a half a game, this wasn't meant to be, anyway,'' said catcher Doug Mirabelli. ''It's a virtual tie."
Except that the Yankees have 11 games to play, the Sox 10. The wild card? Cleveland (89-63) won again last night and leads the Sox (88-64) in that race by one game.
''I don't think we can get in the other way,'' said Tim Wakefield, who turned things over to Timlin with two outs in the eighth, Boston ahead, 4-3, and Jorge Cantú on first. ''I think we have to win the division to get in.
''There are too many other teams that are playing well, Cleveland, Chicago. If we don't win the division, I don't think we get in. I hope that's not the case.''
Timlin entered to face Travis Lee, who was definitely not going to be allowed to face Wakefield (Lee is 10 for 24 career off the knuckleballer with 4 home runs, including one earlier in the night).
Lee singled to right, sending Cantú to third. With Timlin ahead 1-and-2 to Gomes, a rookie with 20 homers and 50 RBIs in a mere 92 games, Mirabelli set up down and away.
''The ball was middle up, and he just tomahawked it,'' Timlin said. ''Location is everything, and I wasn't in the right location.''
Gomes lined the ball over the left side of the infield, and it cleared a soaring Edgar Renteria by ''a foot, six inches,'' estimated manager Terry Francona.
Somehow, the ball rolled all the way to the wall in left-center, between Manny Ramírez and Adam Hyzdu, who spelled Johnny Damon in center a night after Damon received a second cortisone injection in 12 days.
Eric Munson followed with a double to left that went through Ramírez to the wall, with Gomes scoring. Alex González followed with an RBI single to right.
