Fisk, Pedro send Sox to Dream Bracket Semis

Backed by the batting brilliance of Carlton Fisk and the mound mastery of Pedro Martinez, the Red Sox once again advanced in the MLB Dream Bracket simulation tournament, this time beating the White Sox in five games in the quarterfinals.

Now, it is on to the semifinals for a dream best-of-seven rivalry matchup against the Yankees.

After the teams split the first two games at Fenway Park, the Red Sox went into Chicago and won three straight at Guaranteed Rate Field.

• Box scores

It was fitting that Fisk -- who is considered the best catcher in the history of both of these franchises -- played such a key role in the series. Boston’s version of Fisk batted .318 with two homers and led the Red Sox in RBIs (seven) and OPS (1.182). Chicago’s version of Fisk wasn’t nearly as effective, hitting .125 with only one RBI.

Fisk had plenty of help from a loaded Boston lineup. Wade Boggs batted .421 over the five games with three doubles and a .522 on-base percentage. Nomar Garciaparra hit .391 with a homer. Ted Williams, fresh off his utter domination of the Blue Jays in the previous round, slashed .333/.391/.762 with two homers and four RBIs.

Martinez won both of his starts in the series, including the Game 5 clincher, notching a 2.31 ERA.

The MLB Dream Bracket started as a 32-team best-of-seven simulation featuring all-time teams for each of the 30 current Major League franchises, as well as teams consisting of Negro Leagues Stars and 25 & Under Stars. The 26-man rosters for each of the teams, compiled by the MLB.com beat reporters, consisted of 15 hitters and 11 pitchers.

For the simulation, players are rated using the average of their three best seasons on a single team. Rosters were constructed with balanced depth to specifically compete in a simulated regulation game.

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The Red Sox are one of the final four teams.

Here is a game-by-game breakdown of the quarterfinal against the White Sox.

Game 1: Red Sox 3, White Sox 2
The Red Sox jumped out first with a three-run rally in the bottom of the third, fueled by RBI hits from Dustin Pedroia, Boggs and Jimmie Foxx. The White Sox threatened to rally back in the bottom of the ninth when Robin Ventura led off with a double against Jonathan Papelbon. But a double-play ball off the bat of Nellie Fox was a rally killer. Ventura went 3-for-4 in a losing effort. Martinez allowed one run in six innings, walking three and striking out five.

Game 2: White Sox 7, Red Sox 4
The White Sox quieted the Fenway faithful with a clutch victory. The key was a five-run rally against Cy Young in the second inning. Magglio Ordonez led off with a homer, and Minnie Minoso hit a two-run double. Garciaparra had a strong game in a losing effort, belting a homer and a double. Williams went 2-for-4 with a double.

Game 3: Red Sox 13, White Sox 4
The Red Sox were undaunted by playing on the road. They had a steady stream of offense to knock Chris Sale -- pitching for Chicago -- out after just 5 1/3 innings (eight hits, five earned runs). And in the eighth, Boston broke it open with a seven-run rally that included a three-run triple by Fisk. In fact, Fisk had a monster game, coming a single away from the cycle. He had six RBIs and ripped a three-run homer off Sale in the sixth. Williams took Sale deep in the first. Roger Clemens went 5 2/3 innings for the win and Koji Uehara and Jon Lester each fired 1 2/3 perfect innings of relief.

Game 4: Red Sox 7, White Sox 3
The Red Sox put the White Sox on the brink of elimination. With the offense again relentless throughout, David Ortiz put Boston ahead for good with a two-run homer off Mark Buehrle in the third. Fisk continued his domination in the series with two more hits, including a solo shot against Buehrle. Williams had just one hit in this one, but it was a homer, his eighth in 17 games in the tournament. Luis Tiant got the victory and pitched deep into the game, allowing three runs over 7 2/3 innings.

Game 5: Red Sox 6, White Sox 3
By the top of the fourth inning, Boston already had a 5-0 lead. In fact, the Red Sox scored just three batters into the game when Williams had an RBI triple to bring home Boggs. Fisk -- who else? -- put the pressure on with a leadoff triple in the second and scored on a wild pitch. Mookie Betts knocked White Sox lefty Billy Pierce out in the fourth with a three-run homer. With that generous early run support, Martinez cruised, giving up two runs and striking out six over 5 2/3 innings. Babe Ruth went three strong innings in relief. With the bases loaded and two outs in the ninth, closer Papelbon got Frank Thomas on a groundout, setting off a celebration for the Red Sox.