Sox band together to put Dodgers on brink

LOS ANGELES -- Now the Red Sox are close enough to see it, feel it and taste it. Close enough to see this World Series as theirs. Only they will not say this. They cannot say this, even if they're obviously and logically thinking it. To say something like that would be to remove a brick in the magnificent wall of one-day-at-a-time baseball that has gotten them to this point.
The Red Sox have won 118 times -- the third-most victories in one season in history -- by not doing something as simple as looking past today. So all they'll say is that they'll show up on Sunday for Game 5 at Dodger Stadium and try to finish a World Series that now feels inevitable.
:: World Series schedule and results ::
The Red Sox moved to the threshold of their fourth championship in 15 seasons with a 9-6 victory over the Dodgers in Game 4 on Saturday. They lead the Series, 3-1, and if they don't close it out on Sunday, Boston will have Game 6 -- and potentially Game 7 -- at Fenway Park on Tuesday and Wednesday to get it done.
Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw will start Game 5, with lefty David Price the surprise starter for the Red Sox. Boston manager Alex Cora said Chris Sale would be available to start Game 6 if the World Series goes that far, and Sale would also be available to pitch in relief in Game 5 if needed.
Although Cora wouldn't say it, he seems to be going with the hot hand. Sale has struggled in his past two postseason starts. Meanwhile, Price has been terrific, having allowed two earned runs in his previous 12 2/3 innings.
However, workload could be an issue. Price will be pitching on three days' rest from his previous start, and he also pitched to three hitters in the 18-inning marathon in Game 3 here on Friday/Saturday.
And yet, the Red Sox keep winning. When the story of this season is written -- that is, when the parades and banquets are distant memories -- this 118th victory in Game 4 is one Boston is going to remember. None of the other 117 were as impressive as this one. Let us count the ways.
First, though, we take you to the visitors' dugout at Dodger Stadium after the sixth inning on Saturday. There, we find the Red Sox trailing, 4-0, and their ace, Sale, screaming at his teammates, gesturing and yelling, among many other things, "Let's go!"
"I was down in the tunnel, I heard someone yelling," Brock Holt said. "And [Mookie Betts] came down to watch some video. And I said, 'Who's yelling up there?' He said, 'Sale.' Oh, my God, he was mad at us. I think that kind of lit a fire under everybody. We didn't want to see him mad anymore. So we decided to start swinging the bats a little bit."

Hey, it's a good story -- even if it doesn't fully explain how Boston roared back from a four-run deficit by scoring three runs in the seventh, one in the eighth and five more in the ninth.
This is the remarkable resilience of this team. With the two biggest stars -- Betts and J.D. Martinez -- going hitless, the Red Sox still found a way to win.
Mitch Moreland came off the bench to hit a three-run home run in the seventh. Steve Pearce, a June trade acquisition from the Blue Jays, had a game-tying homer in the eighth and a three-run double in the ninth.

"That's what makes our team so special," Martinez said. "Everyone does such a good job of picking everyone else up. Everyone wants someone else to do better. They get more gratification when someone else is going off and doing their own thing. That's what makes this team special."
Anyway, when Sale started his ranting, Boston looked about as lifeless and listless as a championship team could look. The Red Sox played seven hours, 20 minutes in losing Game 3 in 18 innings, 3-2. To show up exhausted and a bit dispirited would only make them human.
"We had no energy, actually none whatsoever," Cora said. "It had to do with [Los Angeles starter] Rich Hill, the way he was throwing the ball. But one thing about our team, we keep playing. It's been like that the whole time. We know that in the last third of the game, we've been really good throughout the season."
Had the Dodgers held onto that 4-0 lead, the World Series would be deadlocked at 2-2 and very much still in doubt. The Red Sox haven't won it yet, but they're in control.

"Obviously, we put ourselves right where we need to be," Moreland said. "Something that we worked for since day one, and we're feeling good right now. We've kind of counted the days down and the wins down. So we've got one more to go, and that's our goal right now."
Moreland knows better to look ahead. He was on the 2011 Rangers team that was one out from winning the World Series, only to have the Cardinals rally to win Games 6 and 7.
"I know that it's not over until it's over -- until the last pitch," Moreland said. "So just trying to stay level-headed. We went into the postseason saying we had to get 11 wins, and we've got 10 right now. It will be a lot better when we get that 11th one. That's the mindset right now."