ALCS 2013: Red Sox beat Tigers in 6 games to capture AL pennant

But before Victorino was a hero in the game, he looked like he might be one of the Sox’ goats of the game.

Let’s zero in on that 80-grade facial expression:

The closer earned saves in the other three Red Sox victories, including two one-run saves in Game Two and Game Five. Uehara pitched more than one inning during both of those games, recording a five-out save in Game Two and a four-out save in Game Five.

Overall, Uehara went 1-0 with three saves in three chances, striking out nine batters over six scoreless innings.

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Let’s take a closer look:

No homer; Gomes had a leadoff double. Scherzer battled back to get Drew swinging through a 94 mph fastball for the first out of the inning and the righty’s eighth strikeout of the evening.

Drew has played impressive defense at shortstop all season for Boston, and rewarded John Farell for placing him in the lineup despite his offensive struggles.

Fielder attempted to make it back to third, but fell just short:

Workman struck out Avila to end the inning, but Detroit still exited the inning with a 2-1 lead.

Fielder attempted to make it back to third, but fell just short of the bag.

Not much of a slide from Fielder, more of a belly flop.

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Pedroia jumped on the first pitch he saw from Scherzer, crushing the offering just foul:

The umpires called the play foul, then went and confirmed the call with instant replay. FOX showed an up-close replay; you can see the shadow of the ball on the foul pole:

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Scherzer with the face of a man working hard at his craft:

Buchholz took plenty of time between pitches, and the top of the first seemed to drag. Jonah Keri of Grantland monitored how long the right-hander took to face four batters:

Buchholz surrendered a two-out single to Infante, but otherwise worked a clean top of the second.

The Boston Red Sox have this 2013 American League Championship Series right where they want it. Boston leads the best-of-seven series 3-2 with two games left at Fenway Park, meaning that the Detroit Tigers need to win two straight games on the road if they want to defend their AL title and advance to the World Series. Fortunately for Detroit, they get to send Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander to the mound in those two games, which is a heck of a head start. The two teams square off for Game 6 on Saturday.

Alex Avila will start behind the plate just two days after suffering a patellar tendon strain in his left knee in Game 5. Manager Jim Leyland is sticking with the shaken-up order that scored seven runs in Game 4 (and three more in Game 5). The only change from Thursday’s lineup is that Avila and Omar Infante have been flip-flopped in the 6th and 7th positions:

Doesn’t hurt to have one more option available.

Buchholz struggled in Game 2 of the series, allowing five runs on eight hits in 5⅔ innings. Of course, Boston came back to win that game with the help of David Ortiz’s grand slam in the eighth inning.

Joe Buck and Tim McCarver will be in the booth for first pitch, which is slated for around 8:07 p.m. ET.

Victorino is a career switch-hitter, but began hitting nearly exclusively as a right-handed hitter in August when a hamstring injury hampered his swing from the left side.

The outfielder discussed his at-bats with Crasnick, telling the reporter:

The Tigers starter talked with reporters following the game, and told Sullivan that he plans to return behind the plate despite the injury:

Avila did not blame Ross for attempting to bowl him over, calling the collision a clean play:

Eenie, meeny, miny, moe, this Tiger was caught by way more than just a toe:

Napoli’s shot gave the Red Sox a quick 1-0 advantage, which was the start of a three-run inning for Boston.

Four of the five games of this ALCS have now been decided by one run. The series heads back to Fenway for Game 6 on Saturday.

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Pena did beat Middlebrooks to the bag, but he tagged out the wrong guy.

The throw Pena received spun him around. And while Pena did manage to tag out third-base umpire Rob Drake, he failed to tag Middlebrooks, too.

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Iglesias, of course, has been the human highlight reel of the game so far, but Lester is giving him a run for the money ... albeit in a slightly less graceful capacity.