BOSTON -- These are the games that whiten a manager's hair while reddening his critics' cheeks. It was a minor miracle, then, after the eighth inning Wednesday, that Farrell didn't resemble actor Steve Martin underneath his Boston Red Sox cap and Fenway Park's bleachers weren't packed with tomatoes.

But it also proved, once again, how seldom an in-game decision -- or even a series of them -- made by a manager actually influences the outcome.

In case you missed it, Farrell declined to use closer Craig Kimbrel for a four-out save. Instead, he left Fernando Abad and combustible Junichi Tazawa to blow a two-run lead in the top of the eighth, the latest in a line of recent misadventures by Red Sox relievers not named Kimbrel. Boos tumbled from the stands. Twitter, where the #firefarrell crowd has been deafening, nearly broke.

Farrell got his redemption, though, in the bottom of the eighth. With the score tied, one out and runners on the corners, he strayed from convention and stuck with righty-hitting Aaron Hill against tough Tampa Bay Rays right-hander Erasmo Ramirez rather than pinch hitting with lefty-swinging Travis Shaw. Hill shot a single through the right side to drive home Hanley Ramirez with the go-ahead run in an eventual 8-6 win that clinched a winning three-game series.

"It just boils down to having faith in one another," said center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr., who capped a personally challenging month by going 3-for-4 with a solo homer and an RBI double. "We have a lot of faith in our pitching staff. We have a lot of faith in our offensive guys, whoever is out there every day. And just knowing that, we also have faith in our preparation."

Like him or loath him, Farrell must get some credit for that attitude. And although his explanations of his strategic moves sometimes cause intense head-scratching, it's ultimately the execution or lack thereof by the players that determines whether the Red Sox win or lose.

Take the eighth inning Wednesday, for example.

With the Red Sox clinging to a 6-4 lead, Farrell was unable to turn to either of his setup men. Brad Ziegler is so sick with the flu that he will fly to the West Coast separately from the team, and starter-turned-reliever Clay Buchholz pitched in three of the previous four games. And since Robbie Ross Jr. and Matt Barnes had already pitched in relief of ineffective starter Steven Wright, Farrell had little choice but to call on struggling Tazawa to bail out Abad with the bases loaded and two out.

But although Tazawa entered with a 10.00 ERA in August, he jumped to an 0-2 count against the Rays' Logan Forsythe and just missed with a fastball that would've struck him out. Tazawa left the next pitch over the plate, and Forsythe lined it to center field for a game-tying, two-run single.

Meanwhile, out in the bullpen, Kimbrel never stirred.

"I don't know. I guess I did throw over 20 pitches last night," Kimbrel said. "So, I don't know. It's one of those situations where we were one pitch away from getting out of that inning and [Tazawa] got pretty close to it a few times. If I have to come in the eighth inning and help somebody out, that's happened to me many times before. Obviously it depends on workload, but if I need to come in, in the eighth, I'll be ready in the eighth."

According to Farrell, it came down to workload. Kimbrel pitched the night before -- and in a nonsave situation, no less. But Farrell explained that Kimbrel needed the work Tuesday night, having not pitched in six days, and never for a second regretted letting the closer throw 22 pitches, thereby preventing him from getting more than three outs Wednesday.

"You take every day individually," Farrell said. "The fact is that Craig needed to get to the mound last night. I can't say that he would've been as sharp today having pitched on his seventh day rather than an inning last night."

And Kimbrel was sharp in the ninth inning Wednesday, retiring the heart of the Rays' order (Evan Longoria, Brad Miller and Nick Franklin) after the Red Sox retook the lead. If Tazawa had painted the corner with that 1-2 fastball, Farrell's decision not to use Kimbrel in the eighth inning barely gets mentioned.

Likewise, if Hill, batting .196 since getting traded to the Red Sox in early July, had bounced into a rally-killing double play in the bottom of the eighth, Farrell would've been second-guessed for not turning to Shaw. In that case, Farrell went with his gut. Shaw is batting .189 with a .629 OPS and 36 strikeouts in 111 at-bats since the All-Star break, and he almost certainly would've faced Rays lefty Enny Romero, who was loosening in the bullpen.

So Farrell stuck with Hill, who jumped on a first-pitch fastball and grounded it through the hole and into right field for a go-ahead single.

"Things haven't been falling, but I'm feeling good at the plate and taking good swings," Hill said. "That's all you can do."

Indeed, Hill executed correctly; Tazawa didn't. And in that difference, Farrell went from dolt to sage.

Until Friday night at Oakland, at least.