BOSTON -- The 2018 ALCS is now a best-of-five series. Sunday night, the Red Sox outlasted the Astros at Fenway Park (BOS 7, HOU 5) to even the series at one game apiece. The ALCS resumes Tuesday with Game 3 at Minute Maid Park.

Sunday night's Game 2 win required BoSox manager Alex Cora to get 13 outs from his bullpen after David Price exited with two outs in the fifth inning. The Red Sox have had middle relief issues pretty much all season and needing that much length from the bullpen can be awful scary. Getting the ball from the starter to Craig Kimbrel has been a challenge at times.

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The setup duo of Matt Barnes and Ryan Brasier recorded seven outs in Game 2 after Price to get the Red Sox into the eighth inning with a 6-4 lead. With Kimbrel no longer a two-inning closer at this point of his career, Cora opted for an outside-the-box solution. He went to starter Rick Porcello, who struck out two in a spotless eighth inning. He threw 18 pitches.

"We knew that was their strategy. They're going to be creative with (Porcello)," said Astros manager A.J. Hinch following Game 2. "He comes in and a little uptick in velocity. He's got a lot of energy and noise. And he's got kind of the 'it' factor to come and try to soak up the crowd and the atmosphere and the opportunity."

Porcello's appearance in ALCS Game 2 was already his second relief outing of the postseason. He recorded two outs in ALDS Game 1 against the Yankees a week ago. Also, Cora used Chris Sale in the eighth inning of ALDS Game 4 to help bridge the gap to Kimbrel. Three times in six postseason games the Red Sox have used a starter as an eighth inning setup man.

"He's been down there the whole time. He's just like a bullpen guy, hanging out until he has to get on the mound," Braiser said when asked about Porcello coming on in relief. "Every time he pitches you can see the fire he takes out there with him. Rick is a competitor. He always has fire when he's on the mound. For other guys to see that, it gets everybody going. The emotion he had was pretty cool."

Using a starter in relief in the postseason is hardly a new strategy. Teams have been doing it for years. Decades, even. The Astros did it expertly last postseason. Regular-season starters Lance McCullers Jr. and Brad Peacock both recorded multi-inning saves in the ALCS, and of course Charlie Morton threw the final four innings of Game 7 of the World Series.

In Boston's case, they are using their starters in a very specific relief role. They're the setup man. The eighth inning guy in front of Kimbrel. Last year Hinch just kind of let it ride. He used his starters in relief and kept them in as long as they kept getting outs. Cora, who was with the Astros as a bench coach last season, is using them for one inning on their throw day between starts. Rather than have them throw a normal bullpen session between starts, they pitch an inning in the game.

Prior to Sunday, Porcello last pitched in ALDS Game 4 on Tuesday, so he had four days of rest prior to his ALCS Game 2 relief appearance. He will only have two days of rest before starting ALCS Game 4, however, and that's a fairly quick turnaround. Porcello had three days of rest between his ALDS Game 1 relief outing and ALDS Game 4 start, and he noticeably hit a wall in the fifth inning of Game 4. Could fatigue be a factor?

MLB: ALCS-Houston Astros at Boston Red Sox
Game 4 starter Rick Porcello threw a spotless eighth inning in Game 2. USATSI

Sale started ALDS Game 1 and threw an inning out of the bullpen three days later in Game 4. He then started ALCS Game 1 three days after that. That's a lot of work in a short period of time and Sale's stuff and location was noticeably diminished Saturday night. Of course, he's had shoulder trouble for a few weeks now and is dealing with a stomach ailment as well, so perhaps his crummy start had more to do with that than his relief appearance.

That all said, it is fair to wonder whether using starters as setup men on their throw days in the postseason can work long-term. Fatigue could become a problem. There are two things to keep in mind here though. One, this is the postseason, and you do what you have to do to win the game. If that means using a starter in relief on his throw day, you do it and worry about tomorrow, tomorrow.

And two, this doesn't have to work long-term! The Red Sox will play, at most, 12 more games this season, and that's only if they advance and the ALCS and World Series both go the full seven games. That means what, maybe two more relief appearances maximum for any starter? This can work. And if it doesn't, Cora and the Red Sox will adjust. They have to win the game in front of them before worrying about anything down the road.

In Game 2 on Sunday it was again Porcello's turn to get three crucial outs out of the bullpen in the late innings of a close game. He had to do it in Game 1 of the ALDS last week and Sale had to do it in ALDS Game 4. And, following Game 2 on Sunday, Price said he "will be ready for Tuesday," meaning Game 3. He could be the setup man du jour.

Barnes and Brasier recorded some very big and very important outs in the middle innings of Game 2, but they couldn't take the ball to the finish line, or at least to the Kimbrel line. The Red Sox don't seem to trust guys like Joe Kelly and Brandon Workman with a small lead in the late innngs, so Cora and the BoSox have had to improvise, and that's led them to their starting pitchers this postseason.

"They did an outstanding job and they're done it throughout the postseason," said Cora following Game 2. "We trust those guys. There's certain matchups we like with them and we're gong to try to go to those matchups ... Porcello, he did it again. That was pretty impressive."