Koji Uehara picked up his third save of the postseason as the Boston Red Sox edged the Detroit Tigers 1-0 on Tuesday to take a 2-1 lead in the American League Championship Series.
John Lackey's pitching and a clutch homer by Mike Napoli in the seventh inning helped Boston squeak out the win, but the bullpen duo of Uehara and Junichi Tazawa played a key role in the victory.
Tazawa allowed a single but struck out Miguel Cabrera with runners at first and third with one out in the eighth. Closer Uehara snuffed out the rest of that eighth-inning threat by striking out Prince Fielder and worked a scoreless ninth en route to a four-out save.