But the shortstop let the ball bounce off his glove, and Lofton was safe on second.

Franklin Gutierrez hit a sharp grounder over third base that bounced off the photographer’s box in front of the grandstand and into shallow left. But Skinner held up both hands for the speedy Lofton, and the 40-year-old outfielder skidded to a stop.

Lofton looked back for the ball and, seeing it in no man’s land in shallow left, snapped his head back to stare at Skinner.

“The ball was behind me. It’s not my job. My job is to pick up the third-base coach. He stopped me. I just got to do what he says. He’s the third-base coach,” Lofton said.

Said Skinner: “The ball kicked off hard there and it’s hard to tell exactly where it is.

“I’ve seen it bounce right back to the shortstop. When you have to make a decision and that’s what I did. The ball ended up a little deeper than I thought. But it was one out, runners at first and third. We were OK.”

A star in big games throughout his career in Japan, Matsuzaka followed two subpar playoff outings with his first American postseason victory. He allowed two runs on six hits in five innings, striking out three and walking none.

“I thought he pitched his heart out,” Francona said. “Those were some tough innings. He gave us what we needed.”

Westbrook settled down after spotting Boston a 3-0 lead, retiring seven consecutive batters before Jacoby Ellsbury — another rookie — bounced a chopper through third baseman Blake for an error. After Lugo’s sacrifice bunt, Pedroia was up.

The diminutive second baseman, with eight major league homers to his credit, hit an 0-1 pitch into the first row of the Monster Seats to make it 5-2. He also doubled to clear the bases after Boston loaded them in the eighth against Rafael Betancourt.

Youkilis, who was a rookie when Boston won it all in ’04, followed with a two-run homer to make it 11-2.

Notes: Boston is 5-5 all-time in decisive Game 7s. ... The Red Sox were already the only team to have rallied twice from a 3-1 deficit to win the LCS, in 1986 and ’04. It was the first winner-take-all in the baseball postseason since the 2006 NLCS. ... Boston Game 4 starter Tim Wakefield was unavailable to come out of the bullpen.

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