Sox wear down Orioles

"I know everybody will have a million questions about Clay, and deservedly so, but we did some really good things," Sox manager Terry Francona said after a game in which his team came from behind three times before Crisp beat out an infield roller, stole second, and came racing home on Varitek's pinch single to left-center. "Now I'll answer the questions about Clay. It worked out about as well as it could."

The Sox lost their starting battery by the fourth inning, Tim Wakefield because of ineffective pitching (six runs and nine hits in 3 2/3 innings, including a two-run home run by Kevin Millar), Doug Mirabelli because of a tweaked left hamstring, not to be confused with the strained right calf that kept him on the disabled list until last Saturday. But they recovered to win on Crisp's three-run home run in the fourth (his first in 54 games), a tying home run in the fifth by David Ortiz (whose right knee is about to force him back on anti-inflammatories), and three stunning innings by Buchholz, whose audition out of the bullpen was the longest stint by a Sox reliever this season.

"We're finding ways to win," understated Varitek, who came through with a pinch hit for the third time this season, the most of any Sox player, this one off Danys Baez, whose high leg kick allowed Crisp to steal his 23d base.

The art of pinch hitting is one that has buckled the best of hitters.

"You always have an adrenaline rush to deal with," Varitek said. "You're not already in the flow of the game. You're not at game speed. But the quicker you can get a swing in, the better you can get your eyes adjusted, the better off you are."

An inning earlier, Crisp, who finished with three runs and three RBIs, saved Buchholz from a potentially unhappy ending, running down Jay Payton's blast to center and making an over-the-head catch.

"Announcers are calling those routine now," said Crisp, whose Gold Glove-caliber defense has become something of a given. "It's kind of upsetting. They're not really routine plays. I was able to get back and make the play. I was actually playing him shallow - for what reason, I don't know - it had good backspin over my head, but I was able to bring it down."