Gomes lights Boston fire

There's no telling how these wacky World Series games will end.

One night after a rare obstruction call, Jonny Gomes hit a decisive homer when he wasn't even in the original lineup and Koji Uehara picked off a rookie at first base for the final out.

An entertaining, even goofy World Series is tied at two games apiece following Boston's 4-2 victory on Sunday night, which ensured the title will be decided back at Boston's Fenway Park.

"Emotional roller-coaster here, obviously," Gomes said.

Inserted into the lineup about 75 minutes before the first pitch, Gomes hit a tiebreaking, three-run shot off reliever Seth Maness in the sixth inning.

Felix Doubront and surprise reliever John Lackey, both starters during the regular season, picked up for a gritty Clay Buchholz to help the Red Sox hang on.

And of course, another bizarre ending: Uehara picked off pinch-runner Kolten Wong - with postseason hitting star Carlos Beltran standing at the plate.

Game 5 is Monday night at Busch Stadium, with Boston left-hander Jon Lester facing Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright.

Gomes helped get Boston started in the fifth when he followed David Ortiz's leadoff double with a 10-pitch walk that tired starter Lance Lynn, who had faced the minimum 12 batters through the first four innings.

Stephen Drew's sacrifice fly tied the score 1-1, erasing a deficit created when center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury's third-inning error advanced Matt Carpenter for Beltran's RBI single.

Ortiz, who homered in the first two games of the Series, had three of Boston's six hits and was the club's leader, smacking his hands together and screaming at teammates to get going when he pulled into second base on his double. Then, after the fifth inning, he huddled the Red Sox for a pep talk in the dugout.

Not long after, Gomes' drive put Boston ahead 4-1 in the sixth.

"I take a lot of pride in the at-bat in front of me and behind me," Gomes said. "Obviously, Big Papi is pretty much an intentional walk. I did what I could to give him a little protection."

Doubront got the win with 2 2-3 innings of one-hit relief. Lackey, the Game 2 loser and Boston's probable Game 6 starter, pitched the eighth for his first relief appearance in nine years.

Uehara, Boston's sixth pitcher, got three outs for his sixth save this postseason, completing a six-hitter.

Lynn was the hard-luck loser, leaving with the score tied and two on for Maness, who allowed Gomes' homer on his fifth pitch.

Buchholz, in his first appearance since the AL championship series finale on Oct. 19, fought through shoulder issues and his velocity topped out at 90 mph. He lasted a season-low four innings and 66 pitches before he was lifted for a pinch-hitter, but he allowed just an unearned run and three hits.

"We have guys with heart. Clay, he brought everything he's got," Ortiz said. "I have never seen Clay throwing an 88 mph fastball before."

(China Daily 10/29/2013 page23)