The choice between loading the bases or facing one of the Red Sox’ hottest hitters, Mitch Moreland, with runners at second and third and one out, was obvious to Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander.
He gladly gave Moreland first base with an intentional walk in the fifth inning, and even though it cost him a run on a sacrifice fly, he kept the damage to a minimum.
But with the game tied in the seventh inning, no outs, and runners on first and second after Dustin Pedroia and Xander Bogaerts led off the inning with singles, Tigers reliever Warwick Saupold didn’t have much of a choice.
He had to swallow the poison pill and pitch to Moreland.
When Saupold tried to sneak a 2-and-2 fastball past Moreland, down and in, he joined a long list of Tigers pitchers who have been torched by Moreland this season.
Moreland sent it screaming to left field, whizzing over the head of Justin Upton and ricocheting off the Green Monster, allowing Pedroia and Bogaerts to race home and giving Moreland a go-ahead, two-run double.
In a blink, the game went from a nail-biter to a beating. The Sox piled on five more runs in the eighth on the way to an 11-3 win Saturday night.
Moreland went 2 for 3 with 3 RBIs and 2 intentional walks. Coming in, he was 11 for 19 with 6 runs, 6 doubles, and a homer in five previous games against the Tigers this season.
Over the past 20 games, he’s 23 for 66 with six homers, three doubles, and 19 RBIs.
“I think we’ve been able to kind of keep him a little bit more fresh,’’ said Sox manager John Farrell. “I think even going back, I know we’re a third of the way through here, but he got at the start of the season kind of a little bit behind the 8-ball. He dropped 12 or 13 pounds because of the sickness coming out of spring training. I think he’s finally caught up physically and good to see him tonight with a hard double the other way in a key spot for a couple of RBIs. He’s playing outstanding right now.’’
His bat helped Sox starter Chris Sale pick up his eighth win of the season. Sale went seven innings, giving up three runs on nine hits with seven strikeouts.
When Sale came out for the seventh, he was sitting on 100 pitches, battling a Tigers lineup he was all too familiar with from his years in the AL Central. Even though his pitch count was high, he got out of the inning with just 10 more tosses, striking out Miguel Cabrera on three pitches to end the inning.
He knew it was a big moment.
“It picks up my confidence and I think — I hope, anyways — that it picks the boys up a little bit,’’ Sale said. “I know they fight for me. They’re out there grinding. When I’m coming out of the game, I’ve got a bunch of guys patting me on the back kind of letting me know ‘we got you,’ that’s a fantastic feeling.’’
Sale’s gone at least seven innings in all but one of his 12 starts. It was also the 11th time he’s piled up at least seven strikeouts.
He found himself in a tight spot after giving up a double to Jose Iglesias and a single to Ian Kinsler to start the third inning.
He didn’t need any help getting out of it. He fanned Nick Castellanos on an 0-and-2 slider. He sat Cabrera down on three pitches, freezing him with a 97-mile-per-hour fastball. Then he struck out Victor Martinez, getting him to wave at a 2-and-2 slider to get out of the inning.
“They pressed Chris a few times tonight,’’ Farrell said. “He had to make some good pitches against a powerful righthanded lineup.’’
Sale was sitting on 48 pitches after three innings.
He also had to work his way out of some two-out trouble in the first inning when Cabrera and Victor Martinez came up with two-out singles. But he got a lifesaver from Jackie Bradley Jr., who sprinted in to make a diving play on a shallow sinking liner by J.D. Martinez to keep the Tigers off the board.
The Sox got a golden opportunity in the third when Verlander gave up back-to-back singles to Josh Rutledge and Sandy Leon to start the inning, then walked Mookie Betts to load the bases with no outs.
Pedroia pushed a run across, shooting a line drive to right field for a sacrifice fly that scored Rutledge and put the Sox up, 1-0.
Two batters later, Moreland cashed in, lining a full-count fastball to right for a single that scored Leon.
The Tigers finally got to Sale in the fifth. After Iglesias and Kinsler singled, Castellanos jumped on the first pitch Sale offered and shot it into the left-field corner for a double that scored Iglesias to make it 2-1.
With runners at second and third, Cabrera got a 1-and-1 fastball and bounced it to second, but the ground ball was enough to get Kinsler home and tie the game at 2-2.
The Sox had another bases-loaded opportunity in the fifth but only managed to get one run.
Betts walked, Pedroia reached on a fielder’s choice, and Bogaerts doubled to center. Verlander wanted no part of Moreland and opted for the intentional walk.
It brought Andrew Benintendi to the plate. Benintendi was 0 for 2 on the day but he shot a sacrifice fly to right field to drive in Pedroia and put the Sox up, 3-2.
After getting J.D. Martinez to fly out to start the sixth, Upton tagged Sale for a double off the Wall in the left-field corner. Then Mikie Mahtook looped a single to shallow center that allowed Upton to tie the game at 3.
But the Sox’ bats came alive late, piling on five more runs in the eighth. They’ve now won 13 of their past 19 games.
Between Moreland, Pedroia (2 for 4), Bogaerts (3 for 5), and Rutledge (2 for 2, 3 walks), four Sox finished with multiple hits and the Sox lineup cranked out double-digit runs for the sixth time this season.
“All night long, we did a very good job with long at-bats, staying within the strike zone, really being relentless at the plate, which is what we try to instill, try to take pride in,’’ Farrell said. “But two nights in a row, we’re able to tack on runs late.’’
Julian Benbow can be reached at jbenbow@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @julianbenbow.
