The Boston Red Sox advanced to the American League Championship Series on Tuesday, taking Game 4 from the New York Yankees in thrilling fashion. The end of the game had an unlikely hero -- not Chris Sale, not Craig Kimbrel, but Steve Pearce.

Yes, the same Pearce Boston acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays. The same Pearce who has now played for seven different franchises, including every team in the American League East. How did Pearce assert himself as a player worthy of praise? By saving what could have been a disastrous throw by Eduardo Nunez.

Let's set the scene. It's the bottom of the ninth inning. There are two outs. The Yankees are down one in an elimination game after a long sacrifice fly by Gary Sanchez pushed across a run:

Gleyber Torres then chopped Kimbrel's two-strike offering toward third base. Nunez charged and threw -- and nearly delivered the ball to right field. Take a look:

For effect, here's a screencap of Pearce's stretch:

First-base defense is hard to quantify and therefore easy to overlook. Don't make that mistake. There's a strand of reality out there where the ball gets by or Pearce's foot comes off the base early and there's a Game 5 forthcoming.

Instead, the Red Sox are headed to the ALCS with a World Series spot on the line.