It was almost too easy to predict.

In typical 2004 Boston fashion, the Red Sox carried momentum from a walk-off, come-from-behind victory and won a second consecutive game in the American League Championship Series against the Detroit Tigers, 1-0.

It was merely a few days ago when the Red Sox were in serious danger of falling behind 2 games to zip in the ALCS; but as the team walked off the field last night they found themselves only two games away from the World Series.

The Red Sox squeezed out the one run victory behind a magnificent effort from the pitching staff. Boston knew it would be difficult to score off as talented of a pitcher as Justin Verlander. Starting pitcher John Lackey held down the fort just in time for his squad to tack a run on the board in the seventh inning. Mike Napoli launched a solo shot to put the Red Sox on the board for their only run of the day -- it was all they needed.

The most surprising part of the night was clearly Lackey's performance. Lackey entered the postseason with low expectations after a pedestrian regular season in which he lost more games than he won.

"This game had the feel it was going to be won or lost on one pitch," Boston reliever Craig Breslow said, according to the Associated Press. "Lackey kept us in the game. Every inning where he was able to throw up a zero gave us a lift."

As Lackey exited late in the game, the Red Sox used a handful of pitchers to lock down the victory. Reliever Junichi Tazawa avoided a disaster in the eighth when he struck out Miguel Cabrera with runners on the corners and less than 2 outs. Had Miguel hit the ball almost anywhere besides the infield, the game would have been at least tied up.

The Red Sox and Tigers continue their series in Detroit on Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET.