The Sox’ Jason Varitek is hit by a pitch during the second inning of last night’s game in Cleveland.

The Providence Journal / Bob Breidenbach

CLEVELAND — Josh Beckett is normally the type of pitcher the Red Sox don’t need to score a lot of runs for.

So when they got him seven last night, there was no question this series was headed back to Boston.

The previously drowsy Red Sox offense erupted for 13 hits, led by Kevin Youkilis’ triple and home run and two RBI, and Beckett took care of the rest, scattering five hits and striking out 11 as the Sox defeated the Indians, 7-1, in Game Five of the American League Championship Series.

“Josh threw the ball well for us,” said Youkilis. “He was just mowing. He was throwing the ball like he usually does.”

“We’ve leaned on [Beckett] all year,” said manager Terry Francona. “He was up in the first inning, but once he settled down and got his breaking ball, he became the dominant pitcher we’ve known all year.”

The Sox — attempting to become the 11th team in history, and the third Red Sox team in history, to come back from a 3-1 deficit in a best-of-seven series — had the proper attitude heading into to last night’s do-or-die showdown.

”We weren’t trying to win three games in one night,” said Youkilis. ”We just did what we had to do to win this ballgame, and we did a great job.”

Prior to last night, the Sox’ biggest problem had been the lack of timely hitting. And it continued at the beginning of last night’s game.

Youkilis, who hit his third homer of this series last night, gave the stagnant offense a huge boost in the top of the first inning. After Dustin Pedroia had led off the game with a groundout to shortstop, Youkilis crushed a 1-and-0 offering from C.C. Sabathia, depositing it over the left-field wall, 373 feet from home plate, to give Boston an early 1-0 lead.

”Getting ahead was a huge factor for us,” said Youkilis. ”Getting the confidence, getting that first run is huge. With Josh Beckett on the mound, that one run might be all we need.”

David Ortiz followed with a strikeout before Ramirez doubled to left-center. The Red Sox’ threat came to a halt, however, when Ramirez was thrown out at home attempting to score on a Mike Lowell single to right.

The three-hit success Boston enjoyed off Sabathia in the first was matched by Cleveland in the bottom of the inning.

Beckett, who pitched a complete-game four-hitter in Game One of this series, surrendered one run on three hits in the first, but he settled in after that. The Indians managed only two hits the rest of the way.

Beckett did get a little more help in the third inning when Ramirez delivered a RBI single to give Boston a 2-1 lead. It could have been more, though.

Ramirez lifted a high fly ball to deep right-center that appeared to be a home run. He argued his case. Francona argued his case. Ortiz argued his. The umpiring crew discussed the play and ruled the ball did not clear the yellow line atop the wall, and therefore Ramirez remained at first base.

“I thought it was out,” said Ramirez, “but what can I say?”

“[The umpires] hustled, they talked about it,” admitted Francona. “[But] seeing it live, having it happen quick like that, you don’t care if it’s right. You want the run.”

As it’s been the last few games, the talk around the water cooler must be filled with fans second-guessing Francona for his lineup decisions. The idea of keeping the slumping Coco Crisp in center field as opposed to using rookie Jacoby Ellsbury was once brought to the forefront in the fourth inning last night.

With two on and none out, Crisp failed to execute a sacrifice bunt and eventually struck out looking. No matter the result, Francona has been adamant about keeping the Gold Glove center fielder in the lineup. His players certainly back every decision he makes.

“Anybody can second-guess when something goes wrong,” said Pedroia. “We’ve played 162 games with the same guys and we got ourselves here, so now that we’re here, what are we supposed to change everything? That’s ridiculous. We’re just going to go out and keep playing.”

Another lineup example is Bobby Kielty replacing J.D. Drew in right field when Sabathia pitches. Kielty entered last night’s game hitting .323 (10-for-31), with 4 doubles, 2 homers, 3 walks and 5 strikeouts, against the portly tubby left-hander. In Game One of this series, Kielty hit a two-run single off Sabathia, but he couldn’t keep it going in a key situation last night. With the bases loaded juiced in the top of the fifth, he flied out to right field.

The timely hitting appeared to be back for Boston when Ortiz lofted a sacrifice fly to deep left for a 4-1 Red Sox lead.

And then the Sox ended any pretense with a three-run outburst in the eighth.

“We really did a good job getting runners on base early, but we didn’t do a whole lot with it,” said Francona. “But we stayed at it and stayed at it, and finally broke through.”

“We’re happy that we’re going to take this [back] to Boston,” said Ramirez, “and we’ll see what happens.”

jmcdonal@projo.com