The timing was right for Seanez

ATLANTA -- Game-winning pitcher Rudy Seanez?

The same Seanez whose first pitch last night was belted into the left-field seats for a three-run home run by Jeff Francoeur, one swing erasing the one-run lead Curt Schilling had nursed through six innings?

The ``W" next to Seanez's name in the box score should stand for ``Whaaaaat?" but it's one of those scoring rules that are automatic in their execution, flawed in their common sense. Seanez -- who entered in the Braves' seventh, gave up the home run to Francoeur, then retired Adam LaRoche on a grounder to first -- was the pitcher of record when the Sox batted around in the eighth, scoring six times en route to a 10-7 win.

But even though Seanez was given credit for a job that was anything but well done, it does not obscure the continuing travails of the Sox bullpen, on a night that even the dependable Mike Timlin labored (2 R, 4 H, 2/3 IP) before the Braves were subdued. Only the resilience of a Sox lineup that scored six runs with two outs, most of the damage inflicted on former UMass star Chad Paronto, spared the penmen another night of recriminations.

``Obviously, it wasn't good enough," Seanez said of the slider he threw Francoeur. ``But I don't think it was a bad pitch. The ball was away, on the corner. If he'd let it go, it probably would have been a ball.

``The guy hits the ball out on only one foot, and it hits the top of the fence, what are you going to do? I watched the video. He had one foot totally off the ground."

Jonathan Papelbon again provided the bailout, entering with two on and two out in the eighth and retiring Brian McCann on a first-pitch fly ball, then working a scoreless ninth for his 23d save, one shy of Dick Radatz's rookie team record set in 1962.

In the last 10 games, the Sox bullpen has allowed 28 earned runs in 32 innings, which translates to a 7.87 ERA. Included in that carnage, of course, is the 12th-inning grand slam struck by Jason Kubel off Julian Tavarez in Minnesota last Tuesday night, when Schilling also pitched well and came away with a no-decision.

Seanez actually had pitched better of late, allowing just two earned runs in his last 17 1/3 innings. ``I feel like I've been throwing the ball better, but it's one of those things right now where it seems like things just aren't going right."

After yesterday's home run by Francoeur, Seanez has allowed 7 of 11 inherited runners to score. One of those base runners came courtesy of Manny Delcarmen, who replaced Schilling at the start of the seventh, struck out Edgar Renteria, then watched as Trot Nixon made a terrific, belly-flopping catch of Scott Thorman's sinking liner. But with two out and nobody on, Delcarmen gave up a line single by Andruw Jones.

Terry Francona went to the new lefthander, Javier Lopez, who walked McCann, bringing Francona out of the dugout and Seanez into the game.

``An emotional roller coaster," Francona said afterward. ``We got some big outs from Manny, we had Lopez facing the guy we wanted, and Rudy facing the guy we wanted. I'll take those matchups. It didn't work out the way we wanted, but we bounced back with a vengeance."

And that, Seanez said, will ease the sting of any home run.

``We came back," he said. ``The team did a great job."