Red Sox rally from four-run deficit, take 3-1 lead in World Series

LOS ANGELES — It took a little while, but a lineup described by the Red Sox and their opponents alike as “relentless” throughout this postseason did it again Saturday night.

The Red Sox scored seven runs after two were out in Game 4 of the World Series and took a three-games-to-one lead with a 9-6 win over the Dodgers, who had brought a four-run lead into the seventh.

That qualifies as relentless.

“It’s a really good word,” Red Sox hitting coach Tim Hyers said. “Give them credit on the other side; Rich Hill was outstanding. He was dominating the strike zone, so you have to give him credit, but you keep fighting. You never know what can happen.”

A lot happened, and now another championship for the Red Sox — which would make it four in the past 15 seasons — is within reach.

Boston lefthander David Price will take the mound against Dodgers lefthander Clayton Kershaw on Sunday night in Game 5 at Dodger Stadium. Chris Sale initially was scheduled to start for the Red Sox, but after Game 4, Red Sox manager Alex Cora said Sale will start Game 6 on Tuesday night if the Dodgers send the series back to Fenway Park.

Pinch hitter Mitch Moreland blasted a three-run homer in the seventh inning and Steve Pearce lined a three-run double and scored on Xander Bogaerts’ single during a five-run ninth, all with two outs.

The Dodgers had scored four runs in the sixth to take a 4-0 lead, helped by Yasiel Puig’s two-out, three-run homer.

“I mean, they’re very talented,” Cora said of his team. “They understand that it takes nine innings or 18 innings and 7 hours and [20]minutes to finish games, but they love to play baseball. They’ve been doing it since spring training. They’ve been very consistent throughout. And now we’re in this position.”

After the clubs endured an 18-inning marathon in Game 3 that lasted 7 hours, 20 minutes and ended at 3:30 a.m. ET Saturday, one pertinent question hovered over Game 4: What could they possibly have left in the tank?

In terms of the hitters, not much, based on the first 5 1⁄2 innings. The two starting pitchers, Rich Hill of the Dodgers and Eduardo Rodriguez of the Red Sox, mowed through the opposition with relative ease.

That changed dramatically in a volley of activity as the clubs traded late-inning blows.

Puig hammered a 3-and-1 fastball from Rodriguez to leftfield for his homer, which made it 4-0. As Puig threw his arms skyward, Rodriguez dramatically spiked his glove on the mound in disgust.

Moreland countered in the seventh with a pinch-hit three-run homer to right-center off Ryan Madson, whose miserable Series continued.

“Any time you come up with a situation like that, you want to make something happen,” Moreland said of the first-pitch changeup from Madson, who has allowed all seven runners he has inherited to score in this series. “But we had two guys go up there and build an inning before me, and we just kept grinding and kept grinding and finally gave ourselves an opportunity by putting some guys on base and I was able to capitalize and get a good pitch and put a swing on it.”

Kenley Jansen, who allowed a tying homer by Jackie Bradley Jr. with two outs in the eighth inning of Game 3, again gave up the tying homer in the eighth Saturday night. This time Pearce clobbered a first-pitch cutter to left-center.

Rafael Devers’ pinch-hit RBI single off righty Dylan Floro with one out in the ninth gave the Red Sox a 5-4 lead. With Kenta Maeda on the mound, Pearce then doubled home three runs and scored on Bogaerts’ single to make it 9-4. The Dodgers’ Kike Hernandez hit a two-run homer off Craig Kimbrel in the bottom of the inning.

Rodriguez allowed four runs and four hits in 5 2⁄3 innings. Hill, a Boston native, was charged with one run and allowed one hit in 6 1⁄3 innings.

Trailing 4-0 after six, the Red Sox could not have been happier when Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pulled Hill with one on and one out in the seventh, bringing on lefty Scott Alexander. He walked Brock Holt, bringing Roberts back out to summon Madson, whom the Red Sox had whacked around in each of the first two games.

“We were scuffling. We were scuffling bad,” said Holt, who doubled with one out in the ninth and scored on Devers’ single to ignite the five-run inning. “And it kind of took a big hit from one of our guys to get everyone going, and obviously that was Mitch Moreland tonight. And after he did that, I think everyone kind of loosened up and we started putting together good at-bats. And thankfully we did.”

Relentlessly. 

By Erik Boland

erik.boland@newsday.comeboland11

Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.