updated 11:41 p.m. ET Oct. 5, 2005

CHICAGO - Boston Red Sox second baseman Tony Graffanino went to the mound to apologize for his error and ask a simple favor of pitcher David Wells.

“I told him, ‘My bad right there.’ I asked him to pick me up,” Graffanino said after the grounder he allowed to go through his legs helped the Chicago White Sox rally from a four-run deficit and beat Boston 5-4 Wednesday night.

“Everybody who’s ever been in the game has been in a situation where they screwed up the game. It crushed me. We’re losing, and it’s my fault.”

A big-game pitcher who needed to pitch a big game to keep the Red Sox from the brink of elimination, Wells instead gave up a three-run homer to Tadahito Iguchi after Graffanino’s miscue and the White Sox took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series.

“If you’re going to point a finger, you point it at me,” Wells said. “He just said, ’Pick me up.’ I said, ’No problem.’ It’s called teamwork. I didn’t do it, so I’m the one who feels bad. I’m sure he does, but I feel worse.”

Wells allowed seven hits and five runs, just two of them earned, and dropped to 10-4 in his postseason career. He was booed by the Chicago fans — he pitched for the White Sox in 2001 — when he left with two outs in the seventh.

The series moves to Boston for Game 3 on Friday, with Tim Wakefield facing Freddy Garcia and the World Series champions needing a win to avoid a quick end to their title defense.

“They’re not going to quit,” White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski said. “They’ve been down 2-0 before; they’ve been down 3-0 before. They’re not going to go away. We’ve got to find a way to win one more game and it’s not going to be easy in Boston.”

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The Red Sox have won eight of their last nine games when facing elimination, including an unprecedented four straight after trailing the New York Yankees 3-0 in the AL championship series. Boston ran off eight in a row to beat the Yankees and then sweep the St. Louis Cardinals for their first World Series crown since 1918.

“It’s good to know that we have” done it before, said Graffanino, who was acquired from the Royals at midseason. “Because now we have to.”

Chicago won the opener 14-2, but Boston hoped the memory of last year’s rally would inspire it to victory. The night before the Red Sox began their eight-game win streak, they lost 19-8 to the Yankees to fall behind 3-0 in the best-of-seven series.

They appeared to be on their way when they scored two runs in the first inning and two more in the third to take a 4-0 lead against AL All-Star starter Mark Buehrle.

But everything fell apart in the fifth.

Carl Everett singled and scored when Aaron Rowand doubled into the left-field corner, then Joe Crede bounced a single through the infield with one out to make it 4-2. Juan Uribe hit a slow bouncer to second base for a potential double play, but Graffanino let it roll through his legs.

He went to the mound and gave Wells a pat on the back. Wells responded in kind.

But after Scott Podsednik fouled out to third base, Iguchi homered to give Chicago a 5-4 lead.

“That’s a huge play right there,” Graffanino said. “He hit the homer and I felt like the game turned in their direction. It’s completely my fault.”

Asked whether something needed to be said to Graffanino to take the pressure off him, Boston catcher Jason Varitek said, “We’ll take care of it.”

“We don’t point fingers in here,” the Red Sox captain said. “If we were able to keep the game where it was ... if we were able to get one more out, everyone would forget about it.”

Graffanino said he “didn’t get a good read on the ball” and may have taken his eye off it to check on the runner. A slow bouncer, Graffanino would have needed to hurry to turn two.

“If people think that was an easy play to make, they’re wrong,” said White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, a former shortstop. “I have been there before, and I know how it feels. It was not an easy play for him.”

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