BOSTON — The hard chopper bounced off first baseman Mitch Moreland’s glove and high into the air. Second baseman Brock Holt jumped to glove the ball and flipped it to first, where David Price was covering.

When the Red Sox needed him, Price was there.

The former ace came out of the bullpen in relief of Drew Pomeranz and squelched a seventh-inning rally Saturday, helping the Red Sox clinch the first back-to-back AL East titles in franchise history with a 6-3 victory over the Astros and avoid a tiebreaker against the Yankees.

“That was important — just get it done today,” Hanley Ramirez said.

The victory set up an immediate rematch with the AL West champion Astros in the ALDS starting Thursday in Houston.

“This is a good team across the way,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. “We’re both division champions. We’ll obviously see a lot of each other over the next 10 days.”

Red Sox manager John Farrell had said Price, who threw 24 pitches Friday night, was unavailable.

“He came in today and said, ‘Hey, if the situation presents itself, give me the ball,’?” Farrell said.

That situation came in the seventh, with two in and two on, nobody out and the tying run at the plate. Price got Brian McCann on the 3-4-1 putout thanks to a fortuitous bounce, struck out Cameron Maybin and walked Tyler White to load the bases. Price then struck out George Springer on three pitches.

“We get a chance to get a couple of days rest,” said Farrell, who scratched Chris Sale from Sunday’s start and said Hector Velazquez would pitch instead. “Chris is deserving of a couple of extra days to just get some rest.”