ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — When the champagne stopped flowing in the visitor’s clubhouse, the Boston Red Sox took the celebration back out to the stands at Tropicana Field so that family and friends could share some of the fun.

A year after finishing in last place, the AL East champion Red Sox won 97 games to match St. Louis for the best record in baseball. Now, they’re moving on to the AL championship series for the first time in five years.

Shane Victorino’s infield single snapped a seventh-inning tie and Dustin Pedroia’s ninth-inning sacrifice fly provided insurance for the Red Sox.

Koji Uehara got the final four outs — one night after giving up a game-winning homer — and Boston rebounded to take the series in four games.

Both managers mixed and matched all night in a tense game that felt more like a chess match. Desperately trying to force a fifth game, Rays skipper Joe Maddon used nine pitchers — a postseason record for a nine-inning game.

Tigers 8, A’s 6

DETROIT — Justin Verlander is again standing between the Oakland Athletics and the AL championship series.

But only after Max Scherzer kept the Tigers’ season alive with a relief outing to remember.

Scherzer escaped a major jam one inning after two fans reached out to try to reel in Victor Martinez’s disputed home run, and the Tigers rallied past the Oakland Athletics 8-6 Tuesday to force a decisive fifth game in their AL division series.

Scherzer wriggled out of a bases-loaded, none-out jam in the eighth inning.