that, we give ourselves an opportunity to get to the lane.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- From worst to first, and now back in the AL championship series. Shane Victorinos infield single snapped a seventh-inning tie and journeyman Craig Breslow gave Boston a huge boost out of the bullpen, sending the Red Sox into the ALCS with a 3-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday night. Koji Uehara got the final four outs -- one night after giving up a game-winning homer -- and Boston rebounded to take the best-of-five playoff 3-1. A year after finishing in last place, the AL East champion Red Sox won 97 games to match St. Louis for the best record in baseball. Now, theyre moving on to the ALCS for the first time in five years. "Its great, but weve still got one more to get where we want to be," Victorino said. "Were going to get a few days off to rest and see what happens in the other division series, and well go from there." After the resilient Rays were finally eliminated, Boston will open at home Saturday against the Athletics or Tigers. Oakland hosts Detroit in a decisive Game 5 on Thursday. Both managers mixed and matched all night at Tropicana Field in a tense game that felt more like a chess match. Desperately trying to force a fifth game, Rays skipper Joe Maddon used nine pitchers -- a post-season record for a nine-inning game -- and had ace David Price warming up for a potential 10th inning. "The way it was working at the beginning there, I could see it was just not going to work and we had to do something differently," Maddon said. "We became a little bit more extemporaneous at that point." Breslow relieved Boston starter Jake Peavy in the sixth and struck out his first four batters -- all in the middle of Tampa Bays lineup. The 33-year-old lefty from Yale has pitched for six teams in eight big league seasons, including two stints with the Red Sox. "We had guys come to spring training, everybody bought in," Breslow said, explaining Bostons quick turnaround after going 69-93 last year. "Theres accountability and 25 guys who prioritize winning baseball games beyond any kind of individual achievement or accolade." The highest-scoring team in the majors this season, Boston scratched out three runs on six singles in a game that featured only one extra-base hit. But that was enough to knock out the wild-card Rays, who won four win-or-go-home games over the previous nine days. "They didnt make any mistakes. You could see their grit," Maddon said. "Theyve got a bunch of gamers over there. ... On the other side, I think our guys were equally as tough. We have had a hard time hitting their pitching staff." Making their fourth playoff appearance in six years, the low-budget Rays have not advanced past the division series since reaching the 2008 World Series. Xander Bogaerts scored the tying run on Joel Peraltas wild pitch in the seventh and Victorino followed with an RBI infield single. Dustin Pedroia drove in Bogaerts with a sacrifice fly in the ninth to make it 3-1, and Uehara struck out Evan Longoria to end it. "It feels great," outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury said. "We played a great team over there. It was a hard-fought game. Its more mentally tiring than anything. But its a fun group of guys." David DeJesus snapped a scoreless tie with an RBI single in the sixth for the Rays, and Boston squandered several opportunities before finally breaking through in the seventh. Bogaerts drew a pinch-hit walk with one out and raced to third on Ellsburys two-out single off Jake McGee. The Rays brought in their sixth pitcher, Peralta, and the game shifted suddenly on his first pitch, which skipped in the dirt past catcher Jose Lobaton -- allowing the tying run to score. Ellsbury was stealing second on the pitch and continued to third when the ball rolled toward the backstop. Victorino beat out a slow chopper to shortstop, putting the Red Sox ahead 2-1. "Victorino really adds a different dimension to that group, and you saw that again tonight. He just drips with intangibles," Maddon said. Breslow pitched 1 2-3 scoreless innings for the win. Uehara earned a save, bouncing back from Lobatons ninth-inning homer in Game 3. Tampa Bay won three win-or-go-home games last week just to reach the division series. Coming from behind in another elimination game Monday gave them hope of taking the series back to Fenway Park, where the Rays were outscored 19-6 in the first two games. The trip to the ALCS will be Bostons first since 2008, when the Red Sox lost in seven games to Tampa Bay. When the Red Sox acquired Peavy from the Chicago White Sox at the trade deadline, they had nights like this in mind. The 32-year-old right-hander made his third career post-season start 2,562 days -- a span of seven years, five days -- after starting Game 1 of the NL division series for San Diego in 2006. Both he and Rays starter Jeremy Hellickson were working with plenty of rest. Although he pitched two innings in a simulated game last week while the Red Sox were waiting to learn who they would face, Peavy hadnt appeared in a major league game in 13 days. Hellickson hadnt pitched since Sept. 27, and his selection as Tampa Bays starter in an elimination game was somewhat of a surprise. He didnt last long. After a 1-2-3 first inning, Hellickson walked David Ortiz and Mike Napoli on eight straight pitches to begin the second. Daniel Nava singled to load the bases, and Maddon had seen enough. Jamey Wright, an 18-year veteran in his first post-season series, worked out of the jam by striking out Jarrod Saltalamacchia and getting Stephen Drew to line into a double play. NOTES: Peavy allowed one run, five hits and struck out three in 5 2-3 innings. ... Former major leaguer Rocco Baldelli, a Rhode Island native who played for both the Rays and Red Sox, threw the ceremonial first pitch. ... Rookie RF Wil Myers was back in Tampa Bays lineup after leaving Game 3 with leg cramps. ... Victorino was hit by a pitch four times in the series, twice in Game 4. ... Lobatons game-ending homer Monday night landed in the giant fish tank beyond centre field. Only two others players -- Miguel Cabrera earlier this season and Luis Gonzalez in 2007 -- have homered into the tank that has been home to cownose rays since it was installed in 2006. Cheap Ernie Banks Jersey . They are back to a game above .500 on the year and back to .500 on the road. It was their 10th extra time game of the year, and only the second one that did not got to a shootout. Cheap Chicago Cubs Jerseys . Last year, Matt Kuchar closed with a 4-under 68 to beat Kevin Chappell by two strokes for his second win of the 2013 season and sixth of his career. http://www.cheapcubsjerseysshop.com/ . Hes even holding a bat on one of his 2014 baseball cards. So far, hes playing like his picture. Cheap Greg Maddux Jersey . -- Thirty years ago, the Detroit Pistons beat the Denver Nuggets 186-184 in triple overtime, a game that remains the highest scoring in NBA history. Cheap Sammy Sosa Jersey .C. -- Al Jefferson knows few people will be giving the Charlotte Bobcats a chance to upset the Miami Heat in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. MIAMI -- Down by 15 early, the Miami Heat could have hit the panic button. Instead, they found a way to move within two wins of another trip to the NBA Finals. LeBron James scored 26 points, Dwyane Wade added 23 and the Heat shook off a horrid start to beat the Indiana Pacers 99-87 on Saturday night in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals, taking a 2-1 lead and breaking a back-and-forth trend in the rivalry. The teams had alternated wins and losses in 13 straight meetings -- until now. Miami once trailed 37-22, before outscoring Indiana 77-50 the rest of the way. "A lot of our situations that weve been through where weve struggled have been against this team," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "Thats what they do to you. Theyre very good. Its a function of their defence. "But we had no choice but try to re-gather." That they did. And then some. Ray Allen added 16 points and led a late-game charge for the Heat, who will host Game 4 on Monday night. And it was the second time this season the Heat rallied from 15 points down to beat the Pacers in Miami -- it also happened on Dec. 18. "Tough loss for our guys," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. "Thought we competed pretty well, came out of the gates really strong, got off to a good start and then didnt manage our foul trouble well and didnt manage picking up their defensive intensity well." Its the third straight series where the Pacers have faced a deficit. "A ton," Vogel said when asked how much resiliency the Pacers have left. "Its very early in the series." Paul George scored 17 points for Indiana, shooting 5 for 13 in his return after being concussed late in Game 2. Roy Hibbert had 16 points, David West added 13 and Lance Stephenson scored 10 for the Pacers, who never trailed until early in the third quarter. Miami started the game 2 for 10 from the floor. The Heat then made 21 of their next 31 shots, including eight straight in the third that gave the two-time defending NBA champions their first lead. James dunk with 7:36 remaining in the third put Miami up for the first time, 52-51. That was the first of nine lead changes in the quarter, before the Heat did what Spoelstra implored his team to do in a pregame locker room address. "Impose our identity," Spoelstra said. Eventually, the message reached the Heat, and their two best players led the way. "We just want to get better as the series goes on," James said. "WWe want to move their defence from side to side.dddddddddddd When we do that, we give ourselves an opportunity to get to the lane. And when our shooters get going it definitely adds more space as you saw in the fourth quarter." James 3-pointer with 1:21 left in the third put Miami up 67-63, then its biggest lead of the night. Wade subbed in for James with 5.7 seconds left because the four-time MVP was dealing with what appeared to be a hamstring cramp and connected on a 3-pointer with 1.4 ticks remaining for a 74-67 lead going into the fourth. James retreated toward the locker room at that point, stopping halfway down the hallway known as "Championship Alley" while trainer Mike Mancias stretched him out. Meanwhile, Wade -- not exactly known for behind-the-arc prowess -- opened the fourth quarter with another 3, the Heat were up 10 and the floodgates were opening. Indiana got to 76-74 before Allen made a 3-pointer, and with that, the tone was set for the final minutes. Allen made three 3s in the final 5:59, the last of those putting Miami up by 15. "I think we need to stick to what we do," West said. "We got away from ourselves. We tried to make some stuff on the fly, which is not us." The halftime score looked ugly: Pacers 42, Heat 38. That didnt even come close to describing how much Miami struggled at times. Heres one example: After 11 minutes, it was Hibbert 10, Heat 10. Indiana led 19-5 early and 37-22 midway through the second. Luis Scola scored eight points off the bench in less than three minutes, and the Pacers were rolling. Or at least, looked like they were rolling. In the final 6:22 of the half, they had more turnovers (six) than points (five). And Miami took advantage, especially after George went to the bench with his third foul. Wade and James combined for 14 of Miamis final 18 points in the second, and a pair of short shots by Wade in the final minute helped pull the Heat within four at the break. NOTES: Commissioner Adam Silver was in attendance, posing with plenty of fans for photos. ... Stephenson had nine rebounds by halftime. The Heat, in total, had 11. ... Heat F Shane Battier, announced earlier in the day as the winner of the leagues Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year award, got his trophy in a pregame ceremony from 2013 recipient Chauncey Billups. ... 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