BOSTON — Yes, Manny Ramirez hit the clutch home run that pulled the Red Sox even, and then rookie Brandon Moss delivered the game-winning single off Matt Guerrier in the eighth.

But a major assist for those heroics has to go to the Sox’ diminutive All-Star second baseman, Dustin Pedroia.

Pedroia put Ramirez and Moss in position to shine with a couple of little plays that may have gone unnoticed last night.

In the top of the eighth, the Twins had one run in, stretching their lead to 5-2, and still had runners at first and third with one out.

Brendan Harris hit a slow bouncer to shortstop Julio Lugo. Lugo charged the ball and gave Pedroia a nice feed. And Pedroia’s turn at second was unbelievably quick, as he came across the bag, caught the ball and fired to first in one motion, nailing Harris at first in a bang-bang play for a twin-killing that kept Minnesota from taking a 6-2 advantage.

“I just tried to get rid of it as fast as I could,” said Pedroia.

At the time, that saved run may not have appeared to be as big a deal as it turned out to be.

In the bottom of the eighth, Pedroia struck again.

With Jacoby Ellsbury on second and none out, Pedroia, the sixth-toughest player in the league to strike out, somehow managed to get his bat on a 2-and-2 slider that was shoetop high and an inch or two wide of the outside corner. Pedroia dunked that pitch over the second baseman’s head and into right-center for a single that fueled the rally.

“I saw his fastball and it had a lot of life to it,” said Pedroia. “Then he threw me a slider and I figured that might be a better pitch for me to hit than the heater. There were two strikes on me so I thought I could at least get the ball to the right side and move him to third and maybe we’d get at least one run in the inning and then maybe some more in the ninth. I was lucky enough to flip it over (the second baseman’s) head.”

And guess who registered the final out? Pedroia, fielding a broken-bat grounder with a runner at third and two outs in the ninth. He calmly scooped up the ball and fired to first, finishing off the stirring 6-5 win.

The guy may be short in stature, but as he has proved time and time again, he’s a winner.

skrasner@projo.com