ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) – Dave McCarty’s fly ball to left field wound up in the stands, but he was called out because of fan interference in the ninth inning and the Boston Red Sox lost to Tampa Bay 5-4 Saturday.

The crazy ending touched off an argument in which Doug Mirabelli was ejected for arguing from the dugout.

With one out and no one on in the ninth, McCarty hit a drive and Carl Crawford went back to the wall. As Crawford jumped, a fan appeared to reach over the 11-foot, 5-inch fence and the ball hit the fan, bouncing into the stands.

McCarty was already at second base when second-base umpire and crew chief Joe West ruled McCarty out. Red Sox manager Grady Little came out to argue, to no avail, and Nomar Garciaparra made the final out.

Wakefield gets nod

Knuckleballer Tim Wakefield will start for the Boston Red Sox on Thursday in Game 2 of the AL divisional series against the Oakland Athletics.

Pedro Martinez will pitch the opener for Boston on Wednesday. Derek Lowe will start Game 3 at Fenway Park on Saturday.

“There’s a lot different factors,” manager Grady Little said.

after the Red Sox lost 5-4 to Tampa Bay on Saturday night. “We did a lot of shuffling of numbers and comparisons and everything we could think of. That’s the way we want to go.”

John Burkett or Martinez – on three-day’s rest – could start Game 4 if the series goes that long.

“We’ll have options there,” Little said.

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Lee broke a 4-all tie with his 19th homer in the third for the Devil Rays (62-99), who are trying to avoid becoming the first team since the 1977-79 Toronto Blue Jays to lose 100-games in three consecutive seasons

The Red Sox got homers from Todd Walker, Mirabelli and Garciaparra.

Boston’s Bill Mueller, who entered as the AL batting leader went 1-for-3 and is hitting .327. Teammate Manny Ramirez had a .325 average after going 1-for-2.

Walker put the Red Sox up 2-0 with a two-run homer in the first.

Tampa Bay responded with four runs in the bottom half.

Julio Lugo hit an RBI double before Huff’s single tied it at 2. Rocco Baldelli drove in a run with a triple and then scored on Lee’s grounder to make it 4-2.

Mirabelli hit his first homer since Aug. 8 to make it 4-3 in the second.

Garciaparra tied it at 4 with a solo homer off Rob Bell in the third.

Lee gave the Devil Rays a 5-4 lead on a solo homer in the bottom half.

Bell allowed four runs and six hits – including three homers – in 2 1-3 innings.

Notes: Ramirez set a career-high with 185 hits this season on an infield single in the first. … Crawford stole second in the first and leads the AL with 54. … Garciaparra is 8-for-13 with three homers against Bell.

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