Detroit Tigers' Don Kelly (left), Torii Hunter (center) and Austin Jackson celebrate Wednesday's 7-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series against in Detroit. The best-of-seven ALCS is tied 2-2. Paul Sancya / Associated Press

ALCS knotted 2-2 after Detroit'sdormant bats finally come to life

Jim Leyland dropped Austin Jackson to eighth in the batting order, hoping to relax the slumping Detroit outfielder.

So, naturally, Jackson's first plate appearance came with the bases loaded. After drawing a four-pitch walk to force in a run, he felt a little more at ease.

A revitalized Jackson delivered in Leyland's shuffled lineup as the Tigers built a big lead and held on to beat the Boston Red Sox 7-3 Wednesday night to even the AL Championship Series 2-2.

Detroit scored five runs in the second inning, the first coming home on Jackson's walk.

"It was a big situation right there to try to get something done," Jackson said. "I think after I'd seen a couple of pitches I was able to kind of just take some deep breaths and relax a little bit - and not worry so much about the result, just try to get a good pitch."

Jackson finished with two singles and two walks. He was 3-for-33 with 18 strikeouts before Wednesday.

Torii Hunter had a two-run double and Miguel Cabrera drove in two runs after Leyland moved the slumping Jackson out of the leadoff spot and bumped almost everyone else up a place following the Tigers' 1-0 loss in Game 3. The Detroit manager was quick to deflect credit afterward.

"This has nothing to do with Jim Leyland, this is about the players," Leyland said. "They executed, they came out and they played well."

Jackson's bases-loaded walk off Jake Peavy in the second seemed to be a relief for most of Comerica Park. Another strikeout could have derailed the rally, but instead the Tigers broke the game open.

Doug Fister, meanwhile, provided another fine outing for Detroit. He allowed a run in six innings, and the Tigers' starting pitchers have yielded only three runs in 27 ALCS innings - and struck out 42.

After blowing a 5-0 lead in Game 2, Detroit kept the Red Sox at bay on Wednesday.

Game 5 is on Thursday night in Detroit. The Tigers' Anibal Sanchez faces Boston's Jon Lester in a rematch of Game 1, which was won by Detroit 1-0.

Jacoby Ellsbury had four hits for the Red Sox on Wednesday, finishing a homer shy of the cycle, but now it's Boston manager John Farrell fielding questions about whether a lineup shakeup is in order after another tough night against Detroit's pitching.

"The one thing that we've maintained is a constant approach with the lineup and not creating further uncertainty," Farrell said. "I think our guys have responded well to that."

The Tigers lost Games 2 and 3, wasting gems by Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander.

Leyland left Jackson in the lineup but changed the batting order. Jackson hit eighth, and with others moving up a spot, it made for an odd-looking lineup. Hunter hit leadoff for the first time since 1999 and Cabrera was second for only the third time in his career - and first since 2004.

"That was pretty good. He switched things up, kind of shook it up a little bit," Hunter said. "It gave us a different mindset. Miggy hitting second, me leading off. It gave us a different mindset to make things happen."

Leyland indicated his batting order would remain the same in Game 5 - but was he doing anything special with Wednesday's lineup card?

"I'll throw it away ... unless I can sell it to some bar on the way home," he said.

Jackson found himself batting in a crucial situation right away in the second. Peavy walked him to force home the game's first run.

"It felt good to contribute to a win," Jackson said. "Just get a chance to go out there and not put so much pressure on yourself, just have fun."