AL PLAYOFFS Nixon gives Red Sox hope with 11th-inning home run

Boston kept its season alive by beating Oakland at Fenway Park.
BOSTON (AP) -- The Red Sox may have found an opponent more unlucky in the playoffs than they are.
Pinch-hitter Trot Nixon hit a two-run homer in the 11th inning, and the Red Sox took advantage of Oakland's disastrous fielding and baserunning to beat the Athletics 3-1 Saturday night and avoid elimination in their best-of-five postseason series.
Boston, which trails two games to one, managed just seven hits but forced today's Game 4 (1 p.m., ESPN).
"This is what playoff baseball is all about. This is Fenway at its finest," Nixon said.
Error-prone
Oakland made four errors -- three in the second inning -- and then got two runners thrown out at the plate in a bizarre sixth inning that sent the umpires to their rulebooks and angered A's manager Ken Macha.
That left the score tied 1-1 until the 11th -- the second time in three games the teams have needed extra innings.
Rich Harden -- the fifth Oakland pitcher -- came on to start the 11th and got Kevin Millar to pop out. Doug Mirabelli then singled to right and Nixon, batting for Gabe Kapler, hit a 1-1 pitch to straightaway center field.
Raising his fist in the air as he rounded the bases, Nixon was greeted at home plate by his teammates in a celebration reminiscent of the one that greeted the team's wild-card clincher -- the last time they had played at Fenway.
"We just wanted to get back to home," starter Derek Lowe said. "We have possibly the best home crowd in all of baseball. We really believe that we're still in this thing."
Scott Williamson, Boston's third pitcher, earned the win with one inning of perfect relief.
Matchups
John Burkett pitches today against Tim Hudson. A Red Sox win would send the teams back to Oakland for Game 5, and Pedro Martinez probably would face Barry Zito for a chance to advance to the AL championship series.
It was the seventh consecutive time that the A's have lost a playoff game in which they had a chance to advance.
Despite making the playoffs in four straight years, Oakland has not won a postseason series since sweeping Boston in 1990 to make it to the World Series.
The A's had won 10 consecutive playoff games against the Red Sox, also sweeping them in 1988. The Red Sox have not won the World Series since 1918, but their recent history bodes a little better: They rallied from an 0-2 deficit to beat Cleveland in the first round of the 1999 playoffs.
Oakland was the last team to blow a 2-0 lead in the first round, losing three straight to the New York Yankees in 2001.
Staying positive
Returning to the site of their over-the-top celebration of the wild-card clincher, the Red Sox brought a festive mood to the game despite an 0-2 deficit that put them on the brink of elimination.
Several players -- including Nixon -- shaved their heads as a symbol of team unity. Backups taped cheers to the back of their jackets to prompt the fans behind the dugout to heckle Oakland starter Ted Lilly. Some Red Sox employees wore white cowboy hats as a nod to the team's tough-guy motto, "Cowboy Up."
And Lowe was up to the task, retiring the first eight batters and not allowing a ball into the air until Eric Chavez popped up in the fourth.
Oakland could have gone ahead in the sixth but wasted its chances.
With runners on first and third, Miguel Tejada dribbled one toward third base. Lowe fielded it and threw it past catcher Jason Varitek, but Varitek blocked the plate as Eric Byrnes slid past it.
As Varitek ran to get the ball -- getting a two-handed shove from Byrnes on the way -- Byrnes made no effort to touch the plate. Umpire Paul Emmel made no signal until Varitek tagged Byrnes, who appeared shocked.
OAKLANDBOSTON
abrhbiabrhbi
McMln lf5000Damon cf4010
Durazo dh4100Grcprr ss4020
Tejada ss5000Mueller 3b5000
EChavz 3b4000MRmrz lf4000
RaHrdz c5000DOrtiz dh4000
Httberg 1b4010Millar 1b4010
MEllis 2b4010Varitek c4110
Long rf4010ABrwn pr0000
Byrnes cf4030Mrbelli c1110
Kapler rf4000
Nixon ph1112
DJcksn 2b3000
TWalkr 2b1000
Totals39160Totals39372
Oakland00000100000--1
Boston01000000002--3
One out when winning run scored.
E--Tejada (1), EChavez 2 (2), RaHernandez (1), Garciaparra (1), DLowe (1). DP--Oakland 2. LOB--Oakland 7, Boston 10. 2B--Damon (2). HR--Nixon (1). SB--Byrnes (1), Garciaparra (1).
IPHRERBBSO
Oakland
Lilly721025
Bradford1 2-320012
Rincon2-300001
Mecir2-310010
Harden L,1-1 1-322200
Boston
DLowe761022
Timlin300003
Wllmsn W,1-0100002
HBP--by Lilly (Damon). Umpires--Home, Paul Emmel; First, Gerry Davis; Second, Jim Joyce; Third, Bill Welke; Left, Ed Montague; Right, Ted Barrett. T--3:42. A--35,460.