Doug Mirabelli

Doug Mirabelli suffered a right ankle sprain on this play at the plate Tuesday. (Chris O'Meara/AP)

ST. PETERSBURG - Doug Mirabelli won't be available the next three or four games. But that will be a fairly small price to pay for the backup catcher, who helped save what ended up being a 9-8, 16-inning victory for the Red Sox Tuesday night. Boston's backup catcher caught center fielder Damian Jackson's throw home, and braced for a jarring collision with Travis Lee of the Devil Rays. Lee rolled on top of Mirabelli, but the ball stayed in his glove and he recorded the crucial out. It was the bottom of the 12th inning of a tie game, so it would have ended right there if Mirabelli had dropped the ball.

He limped off the field with a sprained right ankle. X-rays showed no further damage. Mirabelli will miss a previously scheduled start Thursday afternoon against the Devil Rays. But he hopes to be back in there for knuckleballer Tim Wakefield's start Sunday against the Orioles at Camden Yards. Mirabelli always catches Wakefield.

"Just ice right now, elevation -- twisted ankle-type treatment," said Mirabelli. "It's very minor. The most discomfort is the tightness. There's hardly any swelling. It's not even bruised. I have good range of motion now. It's just stiff."

That's a pleasant surprise, considering the impact when Lee barreled in.

"Typically that's the way that play happens," Mirabelli said. "It's a do or die play on both sides. It makes me feel good that we ended up coming back and winning that game. It gave us a chance to win."

The day after, manager Grady Little lauded the play.

"That's one of the greatest plays I've ever seen," Little said. "The way he short-hopped that ball and was able to maintain control with that impact and block the plate at the same time the way he did. You won't see a better play than that."

While Mirabelli won't be available in any playing capacity for the next two or three days, he will step in as the bullpen coach.

Pitching coach Tony Cloninger flew back to Boston on Monday to get more tests on his bladder cancer, which meant bullpen coach Euclides Rojas moved into the dugout to assist Little. The last two games, bullpen catcher Dana Levangie handled the bullpen coaching duties.

But with no backup catcher, Levangie will be needed to warm up pitchers during the game.

Little found it ironic that Mirabelli was going to help out with some coaching duties. If the Sox need a backup catcher in the next couple of days, Little said that Kevin Millar would be the emergency man. Millar last caught in an instructional league game in 1995. Shea Hillenbrand caught in the minors, but Little doesn't want to use him there because of some past knee ailments.

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