BALTIMORE — In his appearance Wednesday against the Angels, Takashi Saito pitched one inning, and for the 12th straight outing didn’t allow an earned run. In the process, the reliever made $500,00o as a bonus for appearing in 50 games this season. Few took note.

Saturday night, Saito completed yet another seemingly innocuous frame, stretching his streak of appearances without an earned run to 13 games, while lowering his ERA to 2.49. In an 11-5 white-washing of the Orioles, at Camden Yards. It seemed of little consequence.

Yet, as his latest inning showcased in the Sox’ 11-5 win over the Angels, Saito has established himself as one of the organization’s best offseason acquisitions.

The entire story of Saito’s emergence into the heart and soul of the Red Sox’ bullpen — which has included a .179 batting average against left-handers — is made even more intriguing by the fact that back when he inked his deal with the Sox there were doubts whether or not his injured right elbow would survive another major league season.

Saito chose to enact a procedure which injected plasma into his injured elbow to push along the healing the process instead of getting Tommy John Surgery, an option many suggested he take.

“The decision really came down to a choice between literally not being able to throw for a year, and at this point in my career, sacrificing one year and trying to make it back, as opposed to the route I took which was to throw right away, with the rehab, of course,” said Saito through translator Masa Hoshino. “So that was the choice I was faced with at the time and it was really hard to say which was right choice, but looking back at it now, with the fact I have been able to pitch, it wasn’t necessarily a bad decision.

“Even if surgery had gone well and rehab had gone well, I would still be a 39-year-old pitcher who just had Tommy John surgery in the eyes of the teams.”

As the season has progressed Saito has put the Red Sox’ brass mind increasingly at ease, getting to the point where back-to-back appearances (which has happened four times this year) has become a viable option. Saito has also shown the ability to serve in a variety of roles without nary a hiccup, having pitched in the sixth inning (3 times), seventh (10), eighth (21), and ninth and beyond (22) all with fairly comparable success.

“I think I have recovered well,” Saito said. “I think the fact I have been able to pitch healthy throughout this whole season really proves something. It’s hard to say exactly how things will play out, but if I’m able to pitch at this healthy level I’ll be able to make it through to the end of the season.”

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