May 20, 2003 ... It was a wild finish in the Fens, where Jose Contreras briefly looked invincible before the Sox ambushed him to come from behind for a rousing 10-7 victory. Trailing, 6-5, in the seventh inning after Contreras snuffed a serious threat in the sixth in relief of Jeff Weaver, the Sox hammered the former Cuban ace they once coveted, striking for five runs on the way to regaining a share of first place in the American League East before a sellout crowd of 35,007.

In the end, the gods were smiling on the Sox, who gambled in Pedro Martinez's absence by tapping 25-year-old reliever Bruce Chen for an emergency start. Chen never had started an American League game and his career experience against the Yankees consisted of two-thirds of an inning. Red Sox stopper Pedro Martinez suddenly wound up in an MRI machine with a mild strain in his side

David Ortiz delivered the key blow in the five-run seventh, a two- run double, while Trot Nixon and Kevin Millar knocked in insurance runs with sacrifice flies, and Johnny Damon chipped in with an RBI single. Nomar Garciaparra, who extended his hitting streak to 21 games, helped set the table by doubling between walks to Todd Walker and Manny Ramirez. The Sox responded boldly to Martinez's absence with help from Jason Varitek, who cracked a two-run homer in the fourth to drive in Bill Mueller and wipe out an earlier deficit.

Chen weathered an early surge by the Yankees to leave the game with a 4-3 lead after four innings. And the Sox flashed their trademark resilience by twice storming from behind and ultimately handing the Yanks only their third loss in 30 games they have led after six innings. Alan Embree, who pitched a perfect seventh to stabilize the Sox after former Yankee Ramiro Mendoza coughed up three runs in the fifth, picked up the win.

Brandon Lyon was special as well, striking out the side, Robin Ventura, Alfonso Soriano, and Derek Jeter, in the ninth to pick up his sixth save. Lyon's achievement capped Boston's 13th come-from-behind win of the season, which fell on the 19th anniversary of Roger Clemens's first major league win. Tonight, the Sox have a chance to deny Clemens his 299th victory, take the rubber game of the series, and gain a one-game edge on the Yankees.

Chen appeared so carefree before the game, casually playing cards with teammates despite the surprise assignment, that it seemed a bit troubling when Soriano smacked his first pitch of the game over the Monster. Nor was it a calming influence when Jeter followed with single before he stole second, raced to third on Varitek's errant throw, and scored on Jason Giambi's sacrifice fly. But Chen pitched respectably the rest of the way.

Summoned with none out and runners at first and second, Contreras got Varitek to bounce into a double play before he struck out Damon to extinguish the threat. But the star who eluded the Sox over the winter had no answer for them in the seventh. They handed him his first major league loss.

The Sox hit three sacrifice flies and the Yankees hit two, as they matched a major league record with a combined five in the game. The mark had been reached 15 previous times, most recently by the Angels and Tigers May 9, 2002, in Anaheim.

Johnny Damon, who has raised his average 20 points in the last 10 days to .259, has scored 13 runs in his last 12 games. Bill Mueller, who has hit safely in each of his last 18 starts, recorded his team-leading 18th double. Todd Walker extended his hitting streak to nine games.

Three days after Trot Nixon mistakenly tossed a ball into the crowd with two outs, he all but took a ball away from a fan as he reached into the stands to make a fine catch of a foul down the line by Derek Jeter.