BOSTON (Ticker) -- The Boston Red Sox are halfway toward exorcising a lot of their postseason demons.

David Ortiz 's bloop single with two outs in the bottom of the 14th inning scored Johnny Damon without a throw as the Red Sox posted a dramatic 5-4 triumph over the New York Yankees and forced a Game Six in the American League Championship Series.

For the second straight night, the Red Sox were facing elimination and staring at the prospect of having to succeed against Mariano Rivera - the greatest postseason closer of all-time. For the second consecutive night, Boston got it done and parlayed a big bullpen effort into a thrilling victory.

After a sacrifice fly by Jason Varitek tied the game in the eighth, Boston wasted scoring opportunities in the 10th and 11th before finally solving Esteban Loaiza in the 14th.

"We had so many opportunities and didn't execute before," Ortiz said. "It was like, 'I've gotta get something done here because we're playing against the Yankees and they've got guys who can get it done with one swing, a lot of them.' I just wanted to get something done right there."

Loaiza (0-1), in his fourth inning of relief, struck out Mark Bellhorn and Orlando Cabrera around a walk to Damon. Manny Ramirez worked out a walk on a 3-2 pitch and Ortiz, who forced a Game Five with a dramatic two-run homer in the 12th inning on Sunday, blooped the 10th pitch of his at-bat into shallow center field.

"This guy has some unbelievable pitches," Ortiz said of Loaiza. "He threw me some pitches that I was just trying to foul off because they had good movement."

"I felt really great throwing my fastball, sinker and cutters and working both sides of the plate," Loaiza said. "Ortiz got a good pitch up and in, where Jorge Posada put (the target) and I put it right there. It was a base hit on a broken bat but that's baseball."

The latest dramatic victory in one of sport's best rivalries resulted in a wild scene at Fenway Park, where 35,120 braved the cold and a game that set yet another record for duration. After playing 5 hours and 2 minutes on Sunday, the teams battled 47 minutes longer in this one.

"We just wanted to give (the fans) a heart attack out here," Damon said. "We didn't play our best but guess what? We played good enough. Our bullpen did a heck of a job and that's why we're in this situation."

No team ever has erased a three games to none deficit in a best-of-seven series. In the 25 previous instances of a team being down three games to none, the trailing team has forced a Game Six just twice.

"We had a lot of confidence in each other," Damon said. "The day after we fell down 3-0, we were still jumping around in the clubhouse. ... We were hoping to get back to New York and now we have that chance and hopefully, we can make history."

Game Six is Tuesday at Yankee Stadium with the Red Sox hoping to draw even behind ace Curt Schilling , who is attempting to return from a right ankle injury. New York counters with Jon Lieber , who was masterful in winning Game Two.

This game provided a measure of redemption for Tim Wakefield (1-0), who tossed three innings in relief. After giving up the series-losing homer to Aaron Boone in the 11th inning of Game Seven of the ALCS in 2003, the veteran knuckleballer surrendered just one hit and one walk and gave his team a chance to win.

"He's a gutty son of a gun," Yankees manager Joe Torre said of Wakefield. "He battles, doesn't give in, doesn't let a couple of hits or a malfunction affect what he does and he's a class act on top of everything else. You know, I can't say I'm happy he did it, but I certainly respect how he goes about it."

"I just tried basically to just keep us in the game as long as possible," Wakefield said. "I didn't know how many innings I would be able to go. After the second inning, they asked me how I felt and I said, 'I'll give you what I've got.' So I got through the third inning clean, and David did a great job, again, with a clutch hit to win the game for us."

The Red Sox bullpen closed Sunday's game with 5 2/3 scoreless innings and logged eight in this one. Mike Timlin , closer Keith Foulke , Game Three starter Bronson Arroyo , Mike Myers and Alan Embree combined on five frames before turning the game over to Wakefield.

"They did a good job," Yankees first baseman Tony Clark said. "They did a good job (Sunday) night, too. Obviously, Wake (Wakefield) comes in and picks them up and throws an outstanding ballgame."

Boston trailed 4-2 in the eighth when Ortiz opened the inning against Tom Gordon with a long home run over the left field wall. Kevin Millar walked and pinch runner Dave Roberts took third on a base hit by Trot Nixon .

Torre called on Rivera, who promptly allowed a sacrifice fly to Varitek and was tagged with his second blown save in as many games. Rivera entered this postseason with just two blown saves in 32 opportunities but has blown three of his five chances in the first two rounds.

The Yankees erased a 2-1 deficit on a three-run double by captain Derek Jeter in the sixth. Shaking off a 3-for-18 slump in the series, Jeter doubled into the right field corner against Boston ace Pedro Martinez , clearing the bases with the help of a great slide by Miguel Cairo .

The Red Sox scored twice in the opening inning as Ortiz had an RBI single and Varitek drew a bases-loaded walk.

Both runs came off New York starter Mike Mussina , who allowed two runs and six hits in six-plus innings. He walked two and struck out seven.

Martinez allowed four runs and seven hits in six innings. He struck out six but walked five and hit two batters.

The Yankees left runners at third in the eighth and ninth - when they likely were cost the go-ahead run by a ground-rule double.