The bottom was up at the wrong time

The record will show Johnny Damon's awkward check-swing strikeout on an Orlando Hernandez slider as ending yesterday's sixth inning with the bases loaded. But pinch hitter Jason Varitek and Tony Graffanino, hitting eighth and ninth ahead of Damon, also made outs, with the bases full.

Their inability to execute underscored the Red Sox' difficulties at the bottom of the order, particularly the Nos. 6-9 hitters. In Games 2 and 3, the last four batters in the Sox order combined to go 3 for 28 (.107) with four walks. They went 0 for 3 with a walk with runners in scoring position.

Graffanino accounted for two of the three hits. Bill Mueller, who went 6 for 14 with four walks in last year's World Series, went 0 for 7 with a walk in Games 2 and 3. He was hitless (0 for 11) in the series.

Varitek, the captain, was asked how proud he was of his team overcoming so many obstacles, particularly the loss/underperformance of Curt Schilling and Keith Foulke.

''I don't know right now," he said. ''I feel more like I let my teammates down than anything for not coming through there. You'll have to ask me later."

Rookie shows stuff

After the game, Jonathan Papelbon slouched in a folding chair, clutching a Bud Light, the same beer he'd lugged last offseason when he worked a part-time job with Budweiser.

How far he's come. The 24-year-old, who'd never pitched above Single A before this season, made his major-league debut July 31 and pitched his way into the setup role down the stretch.

Papelbon compiled a 1.29 ERA from Sept. 1 until the end of the season, then pitched four scoreless innings in the Division Series.

''For me it was a blessing," said Papelbon, who figures to be in the Boston rotation next year. ''I wouldn't say that [everything] clicked because I had to make a lot of adjustments myself.

''I've got tons and tons of hard work ahead of me."

Surgery for Wells

David Wells said he definitely will have arthroscopic surgery on his right knee, which required three cortisone injections this season.

Wells's two-year deal calls for $4 million guaranteed next season, with the chance to earn $5 million more in bonuses. Still, he said he's pondering retirement.

''Well, I know it's there," Wells, 42, said of the guaranteed money. ''To me, it's just a matter of what I decide. I'll see what my wife wants, sit down with her. I've been playing long enough. Let her have a say in what I do.

''I don't have to come back. They can give the money to Papelbon."

Wells intends to travel to his ranch in Michigan today to hunt deer for about 10 days, then return home to San Diego. He said he'll have the surgery done by a West Coast doctor rather than by Sox physician Thomas Gill.

''Why fly here and fly back?" he said. ''It's a simple procedure."

Wells said he has not established a timetable for making the Sox aware of his 2006 intentions.

''I don't have to let them know," he said. ''I'm under contract. I don't have to do anything, really. It's a matter of what happens."

Knuckle sandwich

White Sox center fielder Aaron Rowand, who was 10 for 14 with 4 homers and 8 RBIs against Tim Wakefield entering yesterday's game, tacked on a double in two at-bats, and his track record led to Wakefield's early departure.

''It's almost, I don't want to say mind-boggling," manager Terry Francona said. ''That's having success."

Rowand grounded into a double play to end the second inning, then doubled to the base of the wall in the fourth. His next at-bat came in the sixth, with one out, two batters after Paul Konerko snapped a 2-all tie with a two-run homer. And, because of the matchup, Francona relieved Wakefield after just 5 1/3 innings, 71 pitches, and six hits.

Francona, though, had said he wouldn't ask Wakefield to put Rowand on base, as the Red Sox have with the Angels' Vladimir Guerrero, another Wakefield nemesis, many times.

''If you start walking him, the two guys behind him have had a lot of success also," Francona said of A.J. Pierzynski and Joe Crede.

First pick

John Olerud got his second consecutive start.

''We value defense so much," Francona said before yesterday's game. ''And I thought Olerud swung the bat very well the other night. With Doug [Mirabelli] catching, [lefthanded-hitting Olerud] balances out our lineup a little bit. That's common sense."

Olerud went 1 for 2 with two walks. He had a two-out single in the eighth, then Alejandro Machado pinch ran for Olerud but was stranded when Varitek struck out to end the inning. Kevin Millar replaced Olerud in the field in the ninth.

Millar played only the first eight innings of Game 1 and the final inning of Game 3 in what might well have been his final appearance with the club.

In fact, this might have been the last Red Sox game for a number of players. Those who become free agents (with the years they've played for the team in parenthesis): Damon (2002-05), Graffanino (2005), Matt Mantei (2005), Millar (2003-05), Mueller (2003-05), Mike Myers (2004, '05), Olerud (2005), and Mike Timlin (2003-05).

Olerud, 37, has not yet decided whether he will retire or return for another season.

Run on homers

Manny Ramirez's fourth-inning solo homer around the Pesky Pole and sixth-inning solo shot onto Landsdowne Street represented his 19th and 20th career postseason homers. That vaulted him into sole possession of second place on the all-time list. He trails only Bernie Williams (22). Ramirez began the day tied with Reggie Jackson and Mickey Mantle . . . Ramirez's prolific day marked the 10th two-homer game in the team's postseason history. The 10 dual bombers: Patsy Dougherty (1903 World Series), Harry Hooper (1915 WS), Carl Yastrzemski (1967 WS), Rico Petrocelli (1967 WS), Mo Vaughn (1998 ALDS), Troy O'Leary and John Valentin (1999 ALDS), Todd Walker (2003 ALDS), and Damon (Game 7, 2004 ALCS). No Red Sox player has ever homered three times in a postseason game . . . Ramirez and David Ortiz connected for back-to-back homers leading off the fourth inning for only the third set of back-to-back homers in team postseason history and first since Dwight Evans and Rich Gedman took the Mets' Ron Darling deep in the '86 World Series.

All is forgiven

Graffanino received an overwhelming ovation when introduced prior to yesterday's game, two days after making the error that extended the fifth inning of Game 2, allowing Chicago's Tadahito Iguchi to hit a three-run homer in a 5-4 Boston loss. Graffanino was careful not to internalize the ovation too much. ''Probably if I had allowed that to happen I would have cried," he said . . . White Sox general manager Kenny Williams arranged for a knuckleball pitcher to throw batting practice in anticipation of facing Wakefield, but the coaching staff vetoed the idea. ''They didn't want to do it because they didn't want to ruin everybody's confidence," Williams said . . . Tom Brunansky, whose enduring sliding catch near the Pesky Pole clinched the 1990 AL East title for the Red Sox, threw out the first pitch. The player who hit the sinking liner to Brunansky: Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen . . . The Sox were swept for only the fourth time in their history. They were also swept in the 1995 AL Division Series (Cleveland), 1990 ALCS (Oakland), and 1988 ALCS (Oakland). The Sox lost three games in a row for the first time since July 16-18. They lost three in a row only twice during the regular season and four in a row just once.