Prayers answered

He fought, fouling off three pitches, and seeing eight before the final one. The one that, to the Angels, looked like a strike. But Green didn’t swing, thinking the ball was low, thanking a good bit of luck that he was able to work that walk. As he tried to leave the batter’s box, tried to walk to first base, the knee buckled again.

So, as the Angels in the dugout voiced their displeasure, pinch runner Joey Gathright trotted in from third base. The game was knotted at eight runs apiece. Then, Alex Gonzalez took his place at the plate. He wasn’t there long. Gonzalez fisted a soft liner into left field, dropping just in front of Juan Rivera, and prompting Gonzalez to lift his fist as he rounded first.

J.D. Drew scored as the Sox pulled out the improbable 9-8 win. It marked Boston’s seventh straight win overall, as the Sox stretched their lead in the wild-card race to 6 1/2 games over the Rangers, who once again lost to the A’s, their fourth straight defeat. The Sox’ magic number for clinching a playoff spot now stands at 12.

Not only was the win improbable, but so were the final three batters. There was Jed Lowrie, whose last at-bat in the majors came a month ago. There was Gonzalez, who was brought in for his glove and has shown his bat to be a revelation. And before Gonzalez, there was Green, who worked a walk when little else was possible.

“That’s why I checked like that,’’ Green said of a close checked swing call earlier in the at-bat. “I almost collapsed every single swing, and almost collapsed walking down to first, and almost collapsed when I was leading off. I don’t know what’s wrong with it.

“I thought it was fine, but it was different once you get in a game . . . I seriously did not think I could get a hit.’’