More than seven hours later, now early on Monday morning, the focus was shifted to those at the latter half of the order — the star figures in a come-from-behind 3-2 win in 10 innings over the New York Yankees.
When offering praise, Francona had several players to choose from. There was Carl Crawford, who finished a torrid series (9-for-12) with three hits and a walk. There was Marco Scutaro, who matched a career high with four hits, the last of which was a double that set the stage for the game-tying rally in the ninth off Yankees great Mariano Rivera.
And then there was Josh Reddick, the talented youngster who shook off some bad at-bats earlier in the game to deliver the game-winner in the 10th.
That was as good a place as any to start.
"We've been talking about his maturity and things like that," Francona said of Reddick, who took a first-pitch curveball from Phil Hughes and lined it into the corner in left to score Darnell McDonald from second. "The at-bat before, he swung at a ball that was probably two feet in front of the plate. He reeled it back in, got a strike and went the other way."
The latest sign of maturity from Reddick was reflected in his postgame comments.
"What's in the past you got to let that go and try to win the ballgame," he said. "Focus on the at-bat you have now."
The hit touched off the third walk-off celebration of the homestand for the Red Sox, who carry a one-game lead in the American League East into a six-game road trip.
Of course, that hit never occurs if not for the work of the others on this list.
It was Crawford and Scutaro who had hits in the second to help Boston get on the board first. Crawford's single was of the infield variety and gave him seven hits in as many plate appearances. Scutaro's was a more solid base hit to right, and it brought in the only run the hosts could produce until Rivera entered with the game on the line, New York holding a 2-1 lead and just three outs from reclaiming sole possession of first place.
That was where Scutaro, who was with Oakland when he once hit a game-winning homer off Rivera, made a bid to tie the game on one swing. Alas, his drive landed midway up the Green Monster and the Red Sox shortstop had to settle for a double. A sacrifice bunt and a sacrifice fly got Scutaro home, forcing extra innings.
The effort by Scutaro came one day before Jed Lowrie will be activated from the disabled list. Lowrie figures to push Scutaro for playing time, so the timing of the 4-for-4 showing was notable.
Just don't tell that to Scutaro.
"Come on, man. Come on, man," Scutaro exclaimed when asked if it was important that he have this kind of game with Lowrie on the way back. "We're just trying to win games here. It don't matter who's in the lineup … I don't care."
Scutaro did admit to turning a corner at the plate.
"I feel good. I've been kind of battling all year with my mechanics and my timing," he said. "I've been kind of inconsistent. Today, during batting practice, I kind of felt something clicking in and I just took it to the game."
And in that game, while the star-studded quartet atop the order combined to go 1-for-16, Scutaro led an 8-for-16 charge by the bottom four, including the key hits in the game-tying and game-winning rallies.
On a day that began with the team's old skipper praising his superstars, leave it to the youngest member of the squad to sum it all up.
"We really don't have a lack of faith in anybody here," Reddick said.
