The Red Sox are one win away from reaching the World Series after clawing their way to a 4-3 victory over the Tigers in Game 5 of the ALCS on Thursday night.

They scored four runs against Anibal Sanchez (one more run than they scored in the previous three games combined against Tigers starting pitchers), and Jon Lester willed his way through five and one-third innings of two-run ball. The Tigers put 10 runners on base against Lester, but only capitalized on their scoring opportunities in the fifth and sixth innings.

With a 3-2 series lead, the Red Sox will have to beat either Max Scherzer in Game 6 or Justin Verlander in Game 7 at Fenway Park to earn a trip to the Fall Classic this weekend.

Mike Napoli Is Putting The Team On His Back

John Farrell’s patience with Napoli has been rewarded.

Napoli had been struggling mightily prior to hitting the game-winning home run off Verlander in Game 3, but Farrell kept him in the lineup because he knows the kind of hot streaks Napoli is capable of. It appears as if Napoli is on one of those streaks right now, as he is 6-12 with two mammoth home runs over the past three games.

It is near impossible to hit a home run further than Napoli did in the the second inning of Game 5. Like, the ball was crushed.

Tigers Failures To Hit With Runners In Scoring Position Cost Them Again

After a brief reprieve from their struggles with runners in scoring position in Game 4, the Tigers failed to come up with a big hit on Thursday. Lester was not on his game, as he struck out just as many batters as he walked (three) in his outing.

Back-up catcher Brayan Pena, who entered the game after David Ross demolished Alex Avila in a collision at home plate, grounded into a 1-6-3 double play to leave runners stranded on base in the fourth inning. Lester deserves credit for the play too, as he made a terrific stab at the bounding ball to get it all started.

The Tigers had runners on second and first again in the sixth inning, but Austin Jackson grounded into a 5-4-3 double play to end that inning. Dustin Pedroia made a great turn at second base, erasing any memories of his defensive miscues on Wednesday night.

But arguably the most egregious example of the Tigers struggles with runners in scoring position came in the seventh inning, when Miguel Cabrera faced Junichi Tazawa with runners on the corners and nobody out. Just as the case was in Game 3, Cabrera couldn’t lay off Tazawa’s fastballs that were low and away. He grounded into a 4-3 double play, which brought the runner home from third base but ended the Tigers scoring threat. Craig Breslow retired Prince Fielder to end the inning. (Fielder is now hitting .210 this postseason with 0 RBI.)

The Tigers had an opportunity to strike in the first inning, when Jhonny Peralta singled into left field with Cabrera on second base. Cabrera, however, overran third base coach Tom Brookens’ stop sign that was far too late. He was out by a mile at home plate.

At least when the Red Sox make blunders on the base paths, such as Ross trying to score with less than two outs on Shane Victorino’s ground ball to second base in the third inning, they’re entertaining.

Red Sox Bullpen Comes Up Big Again

Red Sox relievers allowed their first run of the series when Cabrera grounded out into an RBI double play in the seventh, but it was a situation where the team gladly traded a run for an out.

Farrell pushed all of the right buttons on Thursday, as Tazawa induced two key double plays to eliminate scoring threats in the sixth and seventh innings. Breslow got Fielder to ground out to end the seventh inning, and retired Victor Martinez to begin the bottom of the eighth inning.

Then, with five outs to go, Farrell summoned his closer. Koji Uehara struck out both Peralta and Omar Infante on splitters to get out of the inning. He then retired the side in order in the ninth, which nailed down the victory for the Red Sox.

Okay, Okay … Jose Iglesias Had A Good Game

Iglesias played well in Game 5. He reached base twice, and singled to lead-off the seventh inning after a tough at-bat against Tazawa.

And, he made one of the best defensive plays anyone will ever see in the third inning. That too.

Looking Ahead

The prospect of having to beat Scherzer or Verlander to reach the World Series would be daunting, except for the fact that the Red Sox have already beaten both of them in this series.

The key to defeating Scherzer in Game 2 was getting him out of the game after seven innings, and feasting on the weak Tigers bullpen. The Red Sox should take a similar approach against Scherzer in Game 6, except maybe they could get a hit before the sixth inning this time. That’d be nice.

Clay Buchholz didn’t pitch well in Game 2, allowing five earned runs in five and two-third innings of work. One has to believe he’ll have to be better in Game 6 if the Red Sox are to win, which is certainly possible given his ability and the Tigers woeful offensive performance in every contest except Game 4.

David Ortiz went 1-4 with a bloop single in Game 5, and is 2-19 in the series. Though Napoli appears to be on a hot streak, it’s difficult to imagine the Red Sox causing much offensive damage against the Tigers in Games 6 and 7 (if necessary) without Ortiz playing a role in it.

Shane Victorino is now 2-21 in the postseason, and had a terrible at-bat in the top of the ninth inning on Thursday. Victorino failed to drive pinch-runner Will Middlebrooks in from third base, as he flailed aimlessly at a slider from right-hander Al Alburquerque. (It seemed like a curious decision for Farrell to insert Middlebrooks as a pinch-runner for Xander Bogaerts, but it paid off. Middlebrooks advanced from first to third base after the Tigers misplayed Ross’ sacrifice bunt. That is the kind of heads-up base running that the 21-year-old Bogaerts didn’t show when he failed to score from second base on Ross’ double in the second inning.)

With the right-handed Scherzer starting in Game 6, Farrell should start Daniel Nava in RF and bat him second. Nava had the seventh-highest on-base percentage in baseball against right-handed pitching this season.

Photos and GIFS via Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images, Ronald Martinez/Getty Images, @BuzzFeedSports, @TheNoseBleeds, @cjzero, and Deadspin

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