But these days, good things don't last for the Red Sox. And it all fell apart in a heartbreaking 4-2 loss in the Bronx.

Also falling apart -- or at least stretching out -- was the webbing of David Ortiz's glove. So it was that Tony Clark's sharp grounder got by Ortiz for the two-run error that tied the game and sparked the comeback.

Dumb luck, cruel fate? Take your pick. The Sox, who are 27-28 since May 1 were trying to digest it all in the aftermath of this one.

"That kind of stuff seems to happen a lot to us, especially when we play the Yankees," said Sox center fielder Johnny Damon. "Whether it's the Curse or ghosts flying around and making things happen, things definitely aren't going our way right now. Things will change. Every single loss right now is just magnified. When you lose to the Yankees the way we did, that's not good."

Not good indeed. A 2-0 lead abandoned the Sox in the late innings, and the result was a defeat that swelled Boston's season-high deficit in the American League East to 7 1/2 games.

All in all, it was a fitting capper to an 11-14 month for the Sox.

"We had them where we wanted them," said Sox manger Terry Francona. "We had chances to extend the lead and we didn't. It's tough, it hurts."

The Sox will call on ace Pedro Martinez to stop the bleeding in Thursday's finale.

After Wakefield (92 pitches) left the mound with two on and one out in the seventh, things unraveled.

The toughest play was the odd Ortiz error.

"My glove kind of stretched out," said Ortiz. "I was supposed to catch the ball, I don't know what happened. I don't know if the ball just went through my glove ... my glove, I got to change it. I got to get another one."

Ortiz's glove wasn't even supposed to be in the game. He was originally the DH, but tightness in Trot Nixon's quad forced the right fielder to DH, while Kevin Millar shifted from first to the outfield.

For whatever reason, the Sox are struggling on defense. They lead the Major Leagues with 60 unearned runs.

A Nomar Garciaparra throwing error in the eighth paved the way for the go-ahead run to come across.

The shortstop swiftly ranged to the hole to nab a grounder by Kenny Lofton and gunned on the run to try and nail the speedy runner. Garciaparra's throw short-hopped Ortiz, allowing Lofton to reach second. It was Garciaparra's third error of the series.

"You try to make it, I try the best I can to make those plays, I have confidence I can," said Garciaparra. "Just keep trying."

As has seemingly every error the Sox have made over the past few weeks, this one hurt. Derek Jeter moved Lofton to third with a bunt and Gary Sheffield worked the at-bat of the game, fouling off eight straight pitches from Mike Timlin and lifting a go-ahead double past a diving Mark Bellhorn and into left.

It was the final dagger in the agonizing late innings.

"I was so excited for this game tonight," Ortiz said. "To end it like this ... I was kind of pumped up for this game tonight. To finish it like this ... "

The night started out well for the Sox.

Damon and Bellhorn led off with singles, and the red-hot Ortiz made it three straight hits out of the gate with an RBI single to right to make it 1-0.

Wakefield made that slim lead hold up by pitching marvelous baseball. He allowed just two singles over the first five innings.

Ortiz again came through for the Sox, launching a solo shot to right off Jon Lieber to lead off the sixth. It was Ortiz's 21st homer of the season, third in as many games, and 10th this month.

The Sox had a golden chance to pad their lead in the top of the seventh, loading the bases with nobody out. But Yankees left-hander Felix Heredia got out of the jam, getting a 3-2 force from Damon, a shallow flyout to left by Bellhorn and a strikeout of Ortiz that brought Yankee Stadium to a high decibel level for the first time all night.

"Having bases loaded and no one out [and not scoring], that's a kicker," said Damon.

The Yankees built off that momentum in the bottom of the seventh. Wakefield hit Sheffield to open the inning and he stole second. With one out, he took third when Doug Mirabelli committed a passed ball on ball four to Hideki Matsui.

With runners at the corners and one out, Francona -- saying afterward that he wanted a strikeout -- chose to remove Wakefield in favor of Scott Williamson. That initially worked as Williamson struck out Bernie Williams. But then he walked Jorge Posada to load the bases and left the game with a strained right forearm.

Wakefield had to watch from the dugout as Clark's hot shot swayed the momentum of the game for good.

"I compete as best I can and in a situation like that, I want to pitch out of it, I just didn't get the opportunity," said Wakefield. "We've got a good ballclub. We're just not playing very well right now. We just need to stay aggressive. There's a real fine line between playing to win and playing not to lose."