BOSTON — The game was tense, punctuated with moments of sloppiness, teetering on the edge of what would have been a remarkable blown lead. But none of that mattered in the end for the Red Sox. All that mattered was the incremental work to advance a lead-off runner in a tie game in the bottom of the ninth—first a sacrifice bunt, then a dose of hustle to beat out a ground ball to third, a swap for a speedy pinch-runner and finally, to win it all, a sacrifice fly from Kiké Hernández.
“Old-school baseball right there,” said Boston manager Alex Cora.