Dustin Pedroia showed it with his glove and bat first.
Then he clarified what fans were seeing as they witnessed his slick third-inning play and sixth-inning RBI double.
“When you back us into a wall, you either do two things: cave or fight. We’re gonna fight,” Pedroia said after the Red Sox came back from a 5-1 deficit to win 6-5 on a walk-off Sunday night.
The Red Sox had tallied just one hit against 27 strikeouts so far in the American League Championship Series when Shane Victorino got a single through in the sixth inning of Sunday night’s game, and they still only got one run on the Pedroia double that followed. But the spark led to Boston coming through in the bottom of the eighth, when David Ortiz mashed a grand slam to tie the game.
Boston won on a Jarrod Saltalamacchia walk-off single. The Red Sox, who were absolutely punchless until the 5 2/3-innings mark on Sunday night, now head to Detroit with the ALCS tied 1-1, thanks in large part to Pedroia igniting the team with both his fielding and clutch hitting.
Having shown what happens with their backs against the wall, the Red Sox now have a chance to see what they can do when the floodgates are opened.
