Benintendi’s catch, call help Red Sox take 3-1 ALCS lead

Andrew Benintendi HOUSTON — charged in hard and left his feet.

Make the catch, Boston wins.

If not ... no telling. On this night, though, even a ball the Red Sox didn’t grab went their way.

Benintendi made a diving play in left field with the bases loaded for the final out, and Boston held off the Houston Astros 8-6 Wednesday to take a 3-1 lead in the AL Championship Series.

“I thought I could catch it and timed it up well,” Benintendi said. “At that point, it was either do or die.”

Boosted by a questionable fan interference call and another home run from Jackie Bradley Jr. in a gripping, back-and-forth game, the Red Sox moved within one victory of their first World Series trip since winning the 2013 title.

Craig Kimbrel earned a shaky six-out save, helped by a rocket throw from right fielder Mookie Betts and Benintendi’s daring grab of Alex Bregman’s sinking liner. Had the ball scooted past Benintendi, it easily could have scored three runs and won the game for Houston.

“Beni took a shot. Had a great jump. And he got it,” Boston manager Alex Cora said.

With that, the Red Sox improved to 4-0 on the road in these playoffs and inched closer to eliminating the defending World Series champions.

“This game was incredibly good on both sides — great at-bats, great plays,” Astros manager AJ Hinch said. “The difference in that game literally was a couple inches.”

Game 5 was Thursday night in Houston.

Bradley hit a go-ahead homer in the sixth, his latest huge swing for a Red Sox team that got knocked out of last year’s playoffs by Houston in the Division Series.

Boston has won three straight after a Game 1 loss, and this one came with controversy.

Astros star Jose Altuve was denied a potential two-run homer in the first inning and called out after fans reaching for the ball interfered with Betts’ attempt at a leaping catch.

Crew chief Joe West signaled fan interference after the ball ricocheted onto the field.

“The spectator reached out of the stands and hit him over the playing field and closed his glove,” West said.

The call stood after a replay review that lasted 3 minutes, 13 seconds.