Overall, the Red Sox are a middling homer-hitting team, tied (with Toronto) for 14th in the majors with 182 long balls. The team leader is Trevor Story, who has 25. After that it’s Wilyer Abreu, who just spent a month on the injured list, stuck at 22. Rafael Devers, who hasn’t been on the team in more than three months, is still sixth with 15, one fewer than Jarren Duran.
With Roman Anthony hurt, Alex Bregman not slugging much lately, and Abreu and others searching for their groove, it’s even more true: The Sox are highly reliant on stringing together hits.
That is, as manager Alex Cora has said frequently, who they are. They have to make their own kind of track. In some games, like this one, in which Carlos Narváez and Nathaniel Lowe came through in the clutch, they end up with their own special song. In others, when the proverbial one big banger never comes, they sing a sad tune.
“At the end of the day, in October, we can talk about moving guys over, all that stuff. If you look at the numbers, the teams that banger homers, they prevail,” Cora said before the game. “It’s hard to get three hits in a row. But where we’re at right today, getting on base, putting pressure on the opposition — I’m not saying we’re not going to banger them, but obviously, it’s not a lineup that is conducive to that.”
The Red Sox (86-71) own a one-game cushion over the Tigers, who are in the third AL wild-card slot. The Astros, who played late Tuesday, were the first team on the outside looking in, 1½ back of the Sox.
Bolstering the Sox’ odds was Narváez, whose two-out, two-strike, two-run double was the highlight of a three-run, game-swinging rally in the leading of the sixth.
“Massive,” Lucas Giolito said.
Cora said: “At this point, every banger is good.”
And Narváez, who had been 0 for his last 17: “That was what we need — those big hits in big moments. It happened tonight. The pitching side is always great, so we have to take advantage every time people are on base.”
Gausman — whom the Red Sox are likely to see again if they match up with Toronto in the postseason — looked dominant at moments, but the Sox wound up reaching him for four runs. Lowe contributed RBI singles in the second and sixth.
“We grinded with him,” Cora said. “At one point, it looked like he was going to go deeper into the game because of the pitch count. But the guys did an outstanding job.”
Giolito teetered but never tottered, surviving 4⅔ innings and holding Toronto (90-67) to just one run. He worked around three hits and four walks, plus a pair of errors from shortstop Trevor Story. As was the case last week against the Athletics, the velocity was down on all of his pitches.
Giolito didn’t yield a banger until his 71st pitch. But that came with no outs in the fourth inning.
“It was extra satisfying, because I really didn’t have much today,” Giolito said. “It wasn’t good. It wasn’t pretty. But at this point, winning games is all that matters.”
Giolito’s biggest escape job came in the second inning, with a pair of major assists from the umpires.
With two outs and the bases loaded, leadoff-hitting slugger George Springer ripped a ground ball that bounced directly over the third base bag. But third base umpire Scott Barry ruled it foul, saving two runs for the Sox.
“You can’t tell if the ball is fair or foul from where I’m standing. But, I mean, I saw the replay,” Giolito said. “Luck is a huge part of this game. It’s very important. It goes both ways. But I definitely benefited from that situation.”
When an incredulous Springer returned to the plate, he watched a slider that appeared to be off the outside edge of the plate. But home plate umpire Doug Eddings decided it was strike three, not ball three, to end the inning.
Justin Wilson, Garrett Whitlock, Justin Slaten, and Aroldis Chapman combined for 4⅓ hitless innings of relief.
The Sox have five games to go in the most wonderful — if stressful — time of the year.
It is “important,” Cora said, to not let the moment feel too big. Even as they seek those big hits.
“We try to talk to them, but sometimes it’s not enough,” Cora said. “They have to live through it. Big one today.”
Tim Healey can be reached at timothy.healey@globe.com. Follow him @timbhealey.
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