Bedard: Bench and pinch-hit heroics continue to overcome struggles of Betts, Martinez

LOS ANGELES — The question was posed to Red Sox hitting coach Tim Hyers and he paused for several seconds before answering.

If I told you before the World Series that Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez would be scuffling like this, would you think you would be up 3-1 and one game from winning a championship?

"That is a great question," Hyers said before contemplating the season as a whole. "Yes ... but I would say it was going to be extremely hard for us to be where we’re at right now with their production down."

The Red Sox have indeed walked that tightrope, and Saturday night's 9-6 victory in Game 4 — which featured the Sox scoring all nine of their runs in the final three frames — was another perfect illustration.

While the Red Sox' tandem MVP candidates went a combined 0 for 8 with four strikeouts, role/platoon players like Steve Pearce, Mitch Moreland, Brock Holt and Rafael Devers combined to go 5 for 8 with two home runs, six runs scored, and eight RBI.

You don't have to tell Martinez about the value of the Red Sox' bench.

"The bench has been the key to our entire playoffs if you look at it," he said. "It's unreal"

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No player loomed larger than Pearce, who hit a game-tying home run off Dodgers ace closer Kenley Jansen in the eighth inning, and then cemented the victory with a two-out, three-run double off Kenta Maeda in the ninth inning.

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Both pitchers are righthanded. Pearce has been used most of the season as a right-left platoon at first base with Moreland, and got the start in Game 4 with lefty Rich Hill on the mound.

"He's been good against right-handers," Alex Cora said. "He's a good at-bat. He doesn't expand. He stays in the zone and is able to go the other way. Like today he was out in front of the first one, then gets a fastball and shoots it the other way. He's a complete player. He's a complete hitter. Very mature. The moment, it's not too big for him."

Dave Dombrowski acquired Pearce from the Blue Jays on June 29th with cash considerations for shortstop prospect Santiago Espinal. Pearce had been on every AL East team (some more than once) prior to the deal, but never Boston. Moreland called Pearce a "great teammate," but the Sox have been grateful for his bat.

"Steve's been doing that since he came over to us," said Holt. "He's been a big part of our offense since we got him, and we're fortunate that we did. He's helped us get to this point and tonight he had two really big hits. Obviously the homer to tie it, and then the insurance in the last inning there. But he's been great for us and we're lucky to have him."

In addition to Pearce, Moreland woke up the Red Sox' bats with his pinch-hit, three-run homer in the seventh inning off reliever Ryan Madson — another two-out blow. Devers broke a 4-4 tie with his own pinch hit — a single that scored Holt, who had doubled — to get Boston's five-run ninth started.

That's interesting because Cora stated in late July how he wasn't a fan of using pinch-hitters because they come off the bench cold. The manager — who also got a game-clinching, pinch-hit home run Eduardo Nunez in Game 1 — poked fun at himself after more clutch fireworks on Saturday night.

"I don't know, because the manager didn't believe in pinch-hitting early in the season," Cora said. "I thought pinch-hitting was a tough spot, a tough at-bat, but obviously we're in the National League, and we have to do that.

"Mitch has been amazing during the playoffs, and they understand their roles. They know where they're at. They know there's going to be a chance to contribute, regardless if you are on the bench. Sometimes it's personnel. At one point I felt that our bench wasn't suited for that, but then we added Steve and Ian (Kinsler), and now we've got more options, and they've been good at it."

Assistant hitting coach Andy Barkett said Moreland was hitting balls underneath the stadium with the specific intention of hitting against Madson.

"Obviously, we needed a big hit right there and that's a guy who can get us back in the game with one swing,'' said Barkett. "We liked the matchup and Alex has been pushing the right buttons all season long and he pushed another one tonight.

"(Moreland's) excellent. His preparation is second to none. He's in there banging off the machine. He had a plan against Madson and he got the pitch he was looking for (a changeup) and hit it out.''

Devers also went in knowing he'd be facing Jansen.

"There's a lot of trust built between Raffy and our coaching staff. Throughout this season, he's grown up a lot," Barkett said. "Talking to him in April about gameplanning was difficult; talking to him now, in October, about gameplanning is easy. He had a plan up there. He knew what the pitcher had and we prepared him. He did his work to prepare and he was ready. Hey, you're going to face this guy. This is what to look for. This is what his trap is and what our hitting options are. And he went up there and executed it."

If Betts and Martinez continue to scuffle — they're .222 with nine strikeouts — the Red Sox are going to need more contributions from their bench to finish off the Dodgers.

"That we're talented, and we don't only rely on two guys," Cora said when asked what it says about the team's success without much from Betts and Martinez. "That's what it takes. To win this whole thing, it's not easy. It's not easy. And today that last third of the game was amazing."