The Red Sox outlasted the Rays by a score of 3-1 on Tuesday night, advancing to their first ALCS since 2008.

After scoring 23 runs in the first three games of the series, the Red Sox were shutout through six innings in game four. They took the lead in the seventh inning when Xander Bogaerts scored on a wild pitch, and Jacoby Ellsbury plated the second run on an infield single.

Rays manager Joe Maddon, taking advantage of the game as an opportunity to stroke his ego for four hours, used nine pitchers in the loss.

Red Sox Bullpen Came Up Huge

Red Sox relievers combined to threw three and one-third shutout innings while striking out seven batters in the game.

Craig Breslow, who averaged five strikeouts per nine innings in the regular season, struck out the first four batters he faced. He relieved Jake Peavy, who threw five and two-third innings of one-run ball.

With a one-run lead in the eighth inning, John Farrell opted to have Junichi Tazawa face pinch-hitter Matt Joyce (who was a pinch-hitter for the original pinch-hitter, Sean Rodriguez), who he struck out.

Koji Uehara recored the four out save, striking out Evan Longoria for the final out. Sweet justice.

Don’t Forget About Peavy’s Performance

It’s easy to overlook Peavy’s outing amidst all of the hubbub about Maddon’s self-aggrandizing innovative managerial style.

Peavy shutout the Rays through five innings before allowing a double to Yunel Escobar and RBI single to David DeJesus in the sixth frame.

Peavy’s performance in game four should shut up the Jose Iglesias fan boys once and for all. Iglesias wasn’t part of this team’s present, nor was he going to be part of its future. Stephen Drew hit .291 in the final two months of the season, and Bogaerts appears primed to play shortstop for the next decade. Iglesias was expendable.

The Red Sox may not have won game four if Ryan Dempster or Felix Doubront took the mound instead of Peavy. It was a great trade.

Relentless Red Sox Lineup Strikes Again

The Red Sox led the major leagues in runs scored for a reason. Even though nobody on the team recorded an extra-base hit, their patience at the plate and aggressiveness on the base paths led the team to victory.

Bogaerts, who pinch-hit for Drew against lefty Jake McGee (if only Farrell had done that in game three), walked to give the Red Sox their first base runner in the seventh inning. Ellsbury then singled, pushing Bogaerts to third base.

After Ellsbury stole second base, Joel Peralta uncorked a wild pitch to Victorino. Bogaerts scored, and Ellsbury advanced to third. Victorino hit a ground ball to shortstop, and Ellsbury scored on the infield hit to give the Red Sox the lead.

The Red Sox tacked on another run in the ninth inning after Rays closer Fernando Rodney loaded the bases. He walked Bogaerts and Ellsbury before hitting Victorino with a pitch. Dustin Pedroia got Bogaerts home with a sacrifice fly.

Rays pitchers surrendered eight walks to Red Sox hitters, and hit Victorino twice. Red Sox pitchers, conversely, didn’t issue a single walk to the Rays.

Maddon Is Good, But He Isn’t That Good

Maddon is a terrific manager who gets the most out of his team. But sometimes he is a bit much (to put it mildly).

If Maddon had so little faith in starting pitcher Jeremy Hellickson, whom he pulled after 22 pitchers, he shouldn’t have started him in the first place. Matt Moore was available to go on three days rest, and rookie Chris Archer (3.22 ERA) could’ve started as well.

But instead, Maddon opted to use four pitchers in the first six innings and nine pitchers in total. It almost worked, too, had Peralta not thrown a wild pitch and Rodney not imploded.

Maddon is almost always seemingly on the right side of platoon splits, and his aggressive in-game style has a lot to do with that. But it appeared as if some of his tactics on Tuesday were for show. For example, pulling Moore in the fifth inning for another lefty (Alex Torres) made little sense. Moore was cruising, as he had struck out three batters in two innings of work.

Sometimes Maddon crosses the line between clever and nauseating. He did so on Tuesday night.

It Isn’t Just About Chemistry, It’s About Talent Too

Only David Ortiz, Pedroia, Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz remain from the last time the Red Sox played in the ALCS.

This club is a lot of fun to watch, and it has been a magical season thus far. Game one of the ALCS won’t begin until Saturday, so expect a lot of talk about the change in clubhouse culture and character the Red Sox went through this season.

A lot of those points have merit. Don’t sell these guys short, though. They didn’t get to where they are because Jonny Gomes punts beers into the stands, or they all have beards.

The Red Sox will play in the ALCS this weekend because they’re good. Real good.

Photos via Red Sox Instagram, Brian Blanco/Getty Images, Chris O’Meara/AP and John Raoux/AP

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