Splitting headache

But Eric Gagné blew the save and the game, al lowing three runs in an outing reminiscent of his two meltdowns last weekend in Baltimore. That only sowed more doubt, in the aftermath of a 7-5 loss, that the master plan to have Gagné share the late-inning load with Jonathan Papelbon and Hideki Okajima is flawed. With Gagné having allowed 14 hits and 10 runs in just six innings -- the kind of line that would have had Way Back Wasdin on the shuttle to Pawtucket -- the Sox would seem to have no choice but to contemplate whether the flaw is a fatal one.

"We had a chance to sneak one out," manager Terry Francona said. "We had it set up just the way we wanted it, and it didn't work."

The day was not without other losses. The Sox, who traded outfielder Wily Mo Peña before the first game to make room for 23-year-old pitcher Clay Buchholz, the winner of Game 1 in his big league debut, placed catcher Doug Mirabelli on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right calf. Mirabelli sustained the injury while running the bases in the first inning of the first game, leaving Jason Varitek to catch the final 17 innings. With general manager Theo Epstein saying that Mirabelli is expected to be out at least two weeks, the Sox summoned Pawtucket catcher Kevin Cash, who was in Ottawa and did not arrive until the second game was underway.

Ortiz, who hit his 20th home run off 15-game winner John Lackey in support of Buchholz, singled and scored the team's only run off Ervin Santana, the Angels' Game 2 starter, in the seventh inning, then delivered a gap double against closer Francisco Rodriguez. That came after Julio Lugo had boldly dashed home on a bases-loaded wild pitch that drifted just a few feet away from rookie catcher Ryan Budde. Ortiz then scored when Ramírez rifled K-Rod's next pitch into the left-field corner.

"David takes a beautiful swing, Manny follows it, the place is electric," Francona said. "But the same things that'll make you laugh will make you cry. They turned right around and did it to us."