Chapter Two

"They were only a couple of million dollars a year apart," Ortiz said on the eve of a series in which the Sox have beaten the Yankees two successive days, including yesterday by a 7-5 score. "How hard did they try?"

While A-Rod kept alive his streak of hitting in each of the Yankees' first 16 games, with a double and RBI single, the big blasts yesterday afternoon came courtesy of Big Papi.

Ortiz's two-run first-inning double and two-run fourth-inning home run (his sixth of the season and fourth in seven games) were the centerpieces of a Sox surge against rookie Jeff Karstens (seven runs in 4 1/3 innings) that allowed Josh Beckett to recover from an unsteady start and go 6 2/3 innings for his fourth win without a loss in 2007.

"Shakespeare," said second baseman Alex Cora, whose two bunts -- one a back-to-back number with Coco Crisp, the other a sacrifice after a Crisp single and stolen base -- were uncommon but critical components of the Sox' offense yesterday.

Shakespeare?

"He hits home runs, he writes books," Cora said of Ortiz, the team's newly lettered author, who collaborated with Tony Massarotti of the Boston Herald on an autobiography, and was headed to a book party at the Four Seasons last night.

"I don't have it yet, but I'll get it," said first baseman Kevin Youkilis, whose double in the first and single in the second figured in two Sox rallies. "I'll have to get him to autograph it, keep it in the house."

Rodriguez was left in the on-deck circle by Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon, who issued a one-out walk to Melky Cabrera, then struck out Derek Jeter on a 97-mile-per-hour fastball and retired Bobby Abreu on a liner to center to end the game before a sellout throng of 36,342 in Fenway Park.

Papelbon remains perfect in April save opportunities -- five this season, 10 last April, when he launched his career as a closer supreme.

Hideki Okajima, who did a marvelous job as Papelbon's stand-in to save Friday night's 7-6 comeback win, was summoned for some more rescue work yesterday and came through, this time with his wife, Yuka Kurihara, in the house, making a guest appearance on Fuji TV during the game. Okajima struck out Jason Giambi to quell a Yankee uprising in which one run already had scored and the tying runs were on base.