BOSTON - Brandon Moss didn’t get his clutch base hit last night on a 1-and-1 fastball by accident.

He was thinking in the batter’s box, too.

“The first pitch he threw me was a fastball, and my timing was a little off and it had some movement to it,” said Moss, who missed the pitch.

Then, said Moss, Matt Guerrier threw him a slider that bounced in the dirt and got away from catcher Joe Mauer, permitting Kevin Youkilis to reach third base with two outs.

“When I saw that pitch in the dirt and Youk go to third, I knew there was no way he was going to throw me another slider, so I sat on a heater. He threw it and I got the bat on it,” said Moss.