June 13, 2003 ... Making his Sox debut in place of the injured Casey Fossum, a former teammate at Texas A&M, Ryan Rupe charted the course for a 4-3 victory by limiting Jimy Williams's Astros to three runs (one earned) over six innings before 33,244 who endured a cool mist after an 85-minute rain delay at Fenway Park. While Rupe arrived from Triple A Pawtucket to boost the Sox in their first-ever meeting with the Astros, Johnny Damon snapped a 3- 3 tie in the sixth inning with a home run off Houston reliever Ricky Stone. The winning shot, which barely cleared the right-field wall, was Damon's first homer since May 9, a span of 130 at-bats.

The victory came on a virtual Old Home Night in the Fens, as Williams returned with his former bench coach, Gene Lamont, and a cast of players with New England connections, including former Sox farmhands Jeff Bagwell and Adam Everett, former Connecticut schoolboy star Brad Ausmus, and Orlando Merced, who played briefly for the Sox in 1998.

But Rupe, the 21st pitcher of the year for the Sox, stole the show by scattering eight hits, walking none, and striking out four to pick up the victory. Rupe grew up in Houston an Astros fan, making the triumph that much sweeter despite his mixed emotions about replacing Fossum.

A night after the Sox bullpen repeatedly ruined the team's chances in a crushing, 13-inning loss to the Cardinals, Mike Timlin helped preserve the victory by pitching two scoreless innings before Brandon Lyon finished things off in the ninth for his seventh save.

The runaway Sox offense failed for the first time in six games to score seven or more runs. But thanks to Rupe and his relievers, Little's crew was able to claim victory for only the second time in 17 games when they have scored fewer than five runs. Maybe it was the magic of Friday the 13th, as the Sox won for the ninth time in 10 years on the date. David Ortiz helped Rupe and the Sox overcome three errors by singling home two runs in the fourth inning after Bill Mueller knocked in the team's first run in the third with a sacrifice fly.

The Sox took advantage of Houston starter Jonathan Johnson's wildness. In addition to surrendering four hits in three-plus innings, Johnson issued eight walks, with two of the walks turning into runs. Johnson managed to throw only 29 of his 75 pitches for strikes before he yielded to Stone. The Astros were no easy mark as they had surged into town after winning eight of their last 10, including a six-pitcher no-hitter against the Yankees. But Rupe and Co. prevailed on the 56th anniversary of the first night game at Fenway Park, a 5-3 victory over the White Sox before a crowd even bigger than last night's (34,510). The latest victory kept the Sox a half-game behind the Yankees in the American League East and half-game ahead of the Blue Jays.

The Sox, who wasted a couple of scoring chances in the first two innings, finally broke through in the third after Nomar Garciaparra singled leading off and stole second. Johnson responded by sandwiching walks to Manny Ramirez and Kevin Millar around a ground out by Ortiz to load the bases for Mueller. And Mueller delivered by lofting a sacrifice fly to center, knocking in Garciaparra with the game's first run.

The Astros capitalized moments later after Garciaparra, charging a slow grounder by Richard Hidalgo, had the ball scoot under his glove for an error. Rupe then put Merced in an 0-and-2 hole before he let him poke a pitch on the outside corner for a double to left, driving in Hidalgo to make it 1-1. And Ausmus ripped a single to right to knock in Merced, giving the Astros a 2-1 edge on the unearned runs.

But the Sox quickly countered, thanks in part to Johnson's wildness. When the righthander started the fourth inning by walking Jason Varitek and Damon, Williams had seen enough and summoned Stone, who whiffed Todd Walker but walked Garciaparra to load the bases for Ramirez. The slugger bounced into a fielder's choice with third baseman Morgan Ensberg firing to Ausmus at the plate, who made a terrific stretch to erase Varitek. With the bases still loaded, though, Ortiz lashed a single to center, bringing home Damon and Garciaparra to hand Rupe a 3-2 advantage.

Rupe surrendered a solo homer to Ensberg into the Monster seats to briefly lose the lead in the fifth, but Damon reclaimed it with his solo shot off Stone in the bottom of the sixth. In the end, though, it was Rupe's night, a giant step forward after getting demoted in spring training as he struggled coming back from knee surgery. No more. Little could not guarantee Rupe a regular spot in the rotation, only a place on the team.

Manny Ramirez batted with the bases loaded for the first time this season (he has appeared in all 65 games), grounding into a fielder's choice in the fourth inning. Before that, he had reached base seven straight times, including five straight walks, two shy of the major league record held by four different players and achieved most recently by Jose Canseco, who walked seven straight times Aug. 4-5, 1992. But Ramirez's 11-game hitting streak was snapped. Also, by drawing five walks Thursday, Ramirez became only the second player in American League history to draw five walks in a game twice in his career. The other was Max Bishop of Philadelphia A's in 1929 and 1930.

The Sox eclipsed the one million mark in attendance in their 31st game, matching last year for their quickest to one million.