Sabathia was angry with himself following Game 1 for not being more aggressive with Boston’s hitters, and when he couldn’t put David Ortiz away with two outs in the third, Ramirez made him pay.

A day after he rankled Red Sox fans by saying “Who cares?” if Boston were to lose, the enigmatic slugger struck back.

Ramirez sent Sabathia’s first pitch to center, where Sizemore went back to the wall. But as he reached up, Ramirez’s shot caromed back onto the field.

Ortiz scored easily, but Ramirez, thinking his shot was long gone, was only rounding first when the Indians retrieved the ball. Boston manager Terry Francona argued it should have been a two-run homer, but after a brief meeting, the umpires kept Ramirez at first.

Slow-motion TV replays were inconclusive, and the ground rules at Jacobs Field state that a ball must completely clear the yellow line at the top of the wall for it to be a homer.

Whatever the outcome, it was Manny being Manny — again.

The funky, fun-loving outfielder irritated some of the Indians when he posed to admire a homer in Game 4, even though his 451-foot shot had only brought Boston within 7-3.

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The Indians insisted it wasn’t intentional, but the club invited country singer Danielle Peck, an ex-girlfriend of Beckett’s, to sing the national anthem and “God Bless America” on the night her former beau took the mound.

Peck was a fill-in for another singer, but her appearance didn’t seem to break Beckett’s concentration.

“I don’t get paid to make those (expletive) decisions,” Beckett barked. “She’s a friend of mine, that doesn’t bother me at all. Thanks for flying one of my friends to the game so she could watch it for free.”

The Red Sox went up 4-1 and chased Sabathia in the seventh. After handing the ball to Wedge, the big lefty walked dejectedly to the dugout knowing he had missed a chance to get the Indians back to the Series.

“I don’t think we’re going into Boston on a downer,” he said. “I can live with this. I thought I made some good pitches.”

Notes: Schilling flew back before the game to get ready for his start. ... Olympic figure skating champion Scott Hamilton, a native of Bowling Green, Ohio, threw out the ceremonial pitch, a wild one that would have received poor artistic marks from judges. ... Beckett went 16 2-3 innings without a walk this postseason before issuing one in the second.

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