Jackie Bradley Jr. plays Game 2's unlikely hero

Mookie Betts made an impact, stroking two doubles, reaching base three times and scoring two runs. Rafael Devers, fresh off the bench, did, too, contributing two hits, an RBI and two runs scored.

But in the Red Sox 7-5 win over the Houston Astros in Game 2 of the ALCS, the biggest hit came off Jackie Bradley Jr.'s bat.

With the Sox trailing 4-2 in the third, Bradley rapped an opposite-field, bases-clearing double to put the Red Sox ahead to stay.

The hit may have materialized in the third inning, but it had its genesis in the first when Bradley got a look at Astros starter Gerrit Cole.

In that at-bat, Bradley also came to the plate with the bases loaded. It didn't end well, with Bradley pulling the ball to the right side for an inning-ending groundout to second.

"I saw a lot of off-speed pitches (in the first),'' said Bradley. "Second at-bat, I got started off with a fastball and saw another off-speed pitch and I was in a hitter's count. So I just wanted to not do too much, see a pitch in the zone that I could handle and I got it on the 2-and-1 count.''

Of course, this being the postseason and the game taking place in Fenway Park, this wasn't just any three-run double. The ball rolled on the top of the left-field scoreboard for a time.

Bradley recalled an at-bat from a year or two ago, but this was different.

"I've never seen (a ball) ride the top of that little edge like that before,'' said Bradley. "It's pretty unique.''

When you think about it, Bradley playing the offensive hero in an ALCS game would have been considered pretty unique only a few months ago. The outfielder, gifted as he is defensively, scuffled at the plate for the first few months, struggling mightily just to get over the .200 mark.

"He struggled early,'' said reliever Matt Barnes, "but what we saw the last three or four months was who he is. That's kind of how the game is -- you get a guy with all the confidence in the world, a good player, come up in the big spot and he gets a big knock for us. Three-run double, gets the lead back? It was absolutely huge.''

Eventually, Bradley figured some things out. But it took some patience on the part of his manager.

"It got to the point during the season that we had to actually take him out of the lineup for three, four five days during the week (so he could work on his swing),'' recalled Cora. "He worked on his craft. He found a few things that he really liked about his swing. Seems like now he understands who he is as a hitter. And since I don't know when, he's been a complete player.

"He's got (a higher) on-base percentage, he's driving the ball against lefties, against righties, and going the other way. He's been very consistent with it.''