BOSTON (AP) - The Red Sox may have found an opponent more unlucky in the playoffs than they are.

Pinch-hitter Trot Nixon hit a two-run homer in the 11th inning, and the Red Sox took advantage of Oakland's disastrous fielding and baserunning to beat the Athletics 3-1 Saturday night and avoid elimination in their best-of-five postseason series.

Boston, which trails two games to one, managed just seven hits but forced a Game 4 on Sunday.

''This is what playoff baseball is all about. This is Fenway at its finest,'' Nixon said.

Oakland made four errors - three in the second inning - and then got two runners thrown out at the plate in a bizarre sixth inning that sent the umpires to their rulebooks and angered A's manager Ken Macha.

That left the scored tied 1-1 until the 11th - the second time in three games the teams have needed extra innings.