You know how it is with hype: It has a way of not delivering on its promise. And so while Chamberlain faced Youkilis three times last night at Fenway, he threw only three pitches: Outside, more outside and in the left-handed batter's box. Youk walked twice and reached on a fielder's choice. So much for little drama.

Yet while Youkilis vs. Chamberlain failed to provide much in the way of intrigue, Youkilis vs. The World remained the hottest story in Baseball. For if it wasn't enough for Youkilis to single up the middle in the bottom of the ninth and then trot home on Jason Bay's game-tying, two-run homer off Mariano Rivera, he returned in the bottom of the 11th to sock a game-winning homer off lefty Damaso Marte to power the Red Sox to their 5-4 victory.

To put it into perspective, it was the first time the Red Sox won a game over the Yankees on a walkoff home run since July 24, 2004, when a fellow named Bill Mueller rifled a two-run homer off Rivera to cap an 11-10 victory.

That was the day Jason Varitek smooshed his catcher's mitt into the face of Alex Rodriguez. It was the day, really, when the Red Sox brought an end to decades of being pushed around by the Yankees. Now Youkilis has a Yankee walkoff job of his very own. As to how much of a role that home run will play this season, that's to be determined. But as we wait for those future events to play out, what we do know is that Youkilis is on a tear that is moving past ``hot'' and closing in on ``historic.''

With two more hits last night, the man is hitting .433. Toss in the two walks and his on-base percentage is .534. And there's an old Baseball saying that goes something like this: When one of your stats looks like a typographical error, it means you're playing really, really bad . . . or really, really good. With Youk, it's the latter.

Here's another old Baseball saying:

``We always say we don't get paid for extra innings, so let's try not to do it,'' Youkilis said after the game.

It doesn't work that way, of course, but Youkilis has been so hot so far that it makes no sense to argue with him. If he says he belted that Marte fastball out of the yard because management refuses to pay time-and-a-half for overtime, then so be it.

``There are going to be a lot of great games this year in this division,'' Youkilis said. ``That's what you play the games for, to have fun and compete like this.''

It should be pointed out that much of last night's game was not ``fun'' for Red Sox fans. The Sox had runners on base in every inning, yet through eight had delivered just two runs. Hitting into four double plays surely did not help.

But then, out of nowhere, the Red Sox awakened. Dustin Pedroia, continuing to be amazing in all facets of his game, turned two late-inning double plays, including a 4-2-3 job with the bases loaded and nobody out in the ninth. Bay made a great catch in left and hit the game-tying homer.

And then Youkilis, one of four remaining Red Sox players from 2004, scribbled his name in the Sox -Yankee history book. Incredibly, it marked the first time that the Sox had both tied a game against the Yankees with a ninth-inning home run and then won it in extra innings on a walkoff home run.

``These games are always overhyped by the media and the fans,'' said Youkilis. ``I think the players just try to go out and play the game and have success.'' That's pure nonsense, of course. Then again, maybe that's the way sees it. Again, he's hitting .433.

Never mind the Yankees. These days, every pitcher he sees is the 12th man on the Washington Nationals.

- sbuckley@bostonherald.com