Nixon pulls Indians even with Red Sox

BOSTON -- The Cleveland Indians withstood several long balls and curtain calls to emerge from a grueling 5-hour, 14-minute, 11-inning game with a 13-6 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Saturday night in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series at Fenway Park.

Trot Nixon, who helped the Red Sox win the 2004 World Series, broke a 6-6 tie with a pinch-hit, run-scoring single in the top of the 11th, and the Indians went on to score seven runs in the inning to even the best-of-seven series, 1-1. Game 3 is Monday night in Cleveland.

Having expended four relievers, and with the score tied, 6-6, Red Sox Manager Terry Francona had little choice in the 11th but to turn to Eric Gagne, the the former Dodgers closer who has been a bust since his July 31 trade from Texas to Boston.

Gagne struck out Casey Blake to open the inning, but Grady Sizemore, who doubled and scored in the first and hit a solo homer in the fifth, grounded a single to right field, and Asdrubal Cabrera walked.

Francona pulled Gagne for left-hander Javier Lopez, and Nixon stroked a run-scoring single to center field for a 7-6 lead. Cabrera took third on the hit and scored on Lopez’s wild pitch behind the back of Victor Martinez to make it 8-6.

Martinez was intentionally walked, Ryan Garko hit a run-scoring single to center to make it 9-6, and Jhonny Peralta, who hit a three-run homer in the fourth, greeted left-hander Jon Lester with a double to left for a 10-6 lead.

Franklin Gutierrez capped the rally with a towering three-run home run to left-center field to make it 13-6.

“It certainly didn’t end like we wanted to, but that was one of the most exciting games I’ve ever been involved in,” Francona said. “Up until the last 15 minutes, it was one of the better-played games I’ve ever been a part of.”

Indians reliever Rafael Betancourt, one of baseball’s best set-up men, helped send the game into extra innings by surviving two epic showdowns, in the eighth inning against Mike Lowell and the ninth inning against Kevin Youkilis.

Red Sox leadoff batter Dustin Pedroia hit a two-out single to left in the ninth and was replaced by pinch-runner Jacoby Ellsbury, who stole second. Youkilis then fouled off six two-strike pitches before lining out to Sizemore in center field on the 11th pitch of the at-bat to end the inning.

An inning earlier, Betancourt won a 10-pitch battle with Lowell, who looked at a slider for strike three after fouling off five two-strike pitches. Betancourt, who struck out Manny Ramirez with a 95-mph to end the seventh, gave up one hit in 2 1/3 scoreless innings.

Japanese left-hander Hideki Okajima threw 1 2/3 scoreless innings for the Red Sox, striking out three, and right-hander Mike Timlin retired the side in order in the eighth before handing the ball to closer Jonathan Papelbon, who threw a scoreless ninth and 10th.

The Red Sox appeared headed for victory when the lead -- and momentum -- swung heavily toward them in the fifth, when Ramirez crushed an 0-and-2 Rafael Perez slider into the back corner of the Red Sox bullpen in right-center field, about 410 feet away, and Lowell followed with a solo shot off an advertising banner atop the Green Monster for a 6-5 lead.

Ramirez’s blast was his 23rd career postseason home run, breaking Bernie Williams’ previous record of 22, and came after designated hitter David Ortiz, he of the gimpy knee, busted it to first to beat out a fielder’s choice grounder.

Chants of “Manny! Manny!” brought Ramirez out of the dugout for a curtain call, chants of “MVP! MVP!” brought Lowell out for a curtain call, and the Fenway faithful was rocking when J.D. Drew followed with a single to right.

But the Indians shrugged it off. Right-hander Jensen Lewis replaced Perez and got Jason Varitek to bounce into an inning-ending double play, and Cleveland tied the score, 6-6, in the sixth when Peralta led off with a walk, took third on Kenny Lofton’s single to right and scored on Gutierrez’s grounder to short.

Cleveland starter Fausto Carmona’s fastball had great velocity, his sinker had a good bite, but far too many of his pitches had an aversion to the strike zone.

The right-hander threw 100 pitches, 51 for strikes, in four-plus innings and threw 39 pitches during a three-run third, in which Ramirez drew a two-out, bases-loaded walk and Lowell followed with a two-run single to give Boston a 3-1 lead.

Ortiz also singled in the third, tying a postseason record by reaching base in 10 straight plate appearances, a mark set by Cincinnati’s Billy Hatcher in 1990.

The Indians countered in the fourth when Martinez and Garko each singled with one out and Peralta crushed Curt Schilling’s 1-and-1 fastball over the center-field wall for a three-run homer and a 4-3 lead.

Cleveland added another run in the fifth when Sizemore, who led off the game with a double and scored on Martinez’s double, hit a bullet into the right-field bullpen for a home run and a 5-3 edge.

Schilling gave up two more singles in the inning before being replaced by Manny Delcarmen, who got Garko to ground out, ending the fifth. The 4 2/3 -inning, five-run, nine-hit effort was the second-shortest postseason start of Schilling’s illustrious playoff career.

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mike.digiovanna@latimes.com