Roberts’ Steal Sets the Stage for Rally

Dave Roberts, a pinch-runner near the end of a cool Sunday night, stole the base everyone knew he had to have and then scored the run the Boston Red Sox had to have.

In the ninth inning, New York Yankee closer Mariano Rivera chased him back to first base with three consecutive throws. And then Roberts stole second on Rivera’s first pitch home. Two pitches later, Roberts scored the game-tying run, tearing past third-base coach Dale Sveum.

“It’s not so much stealing it, it’s having the guts to do it,” Sveum said. “A lot of guys get the opportunity, but don’t have the guts for it. In that situation, and in this market, if he gets thrown out .... “

Sveum didn’t need to finish.

Afterward, Roberts tenderly pulled his sweats over a fresh gash above his right knee.

“I didn’t know what to expect from myself,” said Roberts, a regular outfielder for the Dodgers turned utilityman for the Red Sox. “It’d been a while since I’d been on the field. I just hoped my body followed my mind.”

Red Sox Manager Terry Francona, risking everything in an unforgiving baseball environment, let Roberts go. Indeed, he told him to go.

“I think Dave is one of the few runners in the league that you can put him in a situation like that, give him the green light, and he can go ahead and steal a base when they are trying to hold him and not let him steal.”

The pickoff tries, Roberts said, “got me back into it. I had the jitters a little bit and that got me into the flow of it. Got me a little mad too.”

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Red Sox ace Curt Schilling, wearing a custom-fitted, high-top cleat on his injured right ankle, threw in the bullpen for about 12 minutes before Sunday’s game and did not appear to suffer any setbacks or major problems.

After Boston’s Game 4 victory, Francona said Schilling would start Tuesday if the series went to a Game 6.

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It was George Steinbrenner who insisted the Yankees sign then-free agent Gary Sheffield last winter, Sheffield eventually agreeing to a three-year contract worth $39 million.

Since that has turned out so well -- Sheffield is an MVP candidate -- one might assume there’d be no living with Steinbrenner. But, General Manager Brian Cashman said, there have been few reminders from the Boss.

“He doesn’t have to,” Cashman said, smiling. “He knows. Everybody knows he negotiated that deal.”

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John Olerud, who left Game 3 in the sixth inning after injuring his left instep, was replaced by Tony Clark in Sunday’s lineup.

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A moment of silence was observed to honor Ray Boone, who died Sunday. Boone, a former big-leaguer, father of Bob and grandfather of Aaron and Bret, was a longtime scout for the Red Sox.