The Walkoff: Mike Napoli's Early Offense Powers Red Sox To 4-3 Win In Game 5
BOSTON (CBS) – Things looked grim for the Red Sox after Game 4, when they were knocked out early and had little hope for a comeback all night long. But by the second inning of Game 5, the Sox turned the tables on the Tigers, on their way to a 4-3 win to take a 3-2 series lead in the ALCS.
Mike Napoli got the scoring started with an absolute moon shot over the center field fence in the second inning, and he scored the team's fourth run in the following frame. The Tigers made things interesting, with Boston needing Koji Uehara for a five-out save, but those runs held up through nine innings for the Red Sox.
Anibal Sanchez, whom the Red Sox couldn't touch in Game 1, was much more human in Game 5. He allowed four runs, three earned, on nine hits over six innings while striking out five. Jon Lester wasn't great by any stretch of the imagination, but he fought through 5 1/3 innings while keeping his team in the game. The bullpen – Craig Breslow, Junichi Tazawa and Uehara – did the rest, and the Sox now have themselves a 3-2 series lead, one win away from the World Series.
