Over his 51-year career in professional baseball, Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland has seen his share of teams doing the right things, and not getting the right results.

He has seen many scenarios like the one his Detroit Tigers found themselves in this week. Through the first three games of the series, his Tigers had carved up the powerful Boston Red Sox lineup, with historically dominant starting pitching. Yet heading into Wednesday's Game 4, the Tigers trailed the Red Sox two games to one in the series, thanks to two swings: game-changing home runs by David Ortiz and Mike Napoli that won Boston games two and three.

Dropped from first to eighth in the batting order, slumping Detroit Tigers outfielder Austin Jackson had two singles and two walks, helping spark a 7-3 win over the Boston Red Sox. Getty Images

So before Game 4, Leyland made the kind of cosmetic change that managers make when they want to give the appearance that they're shaking things up, without really changing much at all. Leyland dropped slumping leadoff man Austin Jackson to the eighth spot in the batting order, and moved everyone else up a spot, but otherwise left his team intact. He made a big show of announcing the change, even if it was clear that he knew that it was much ado about nothing.

"Maybe it wakes you up a little bit," Leyland said. "Not that they've been sleeping, they've been great games. Just a little something to, you know, churn up the butter a bit."

Consider the butter churned. While everyone was focused on the tiny changes, the Tigers hewed to the same formula that should have worked in Games 2 and 3—lockdown starting pitching—and rode it to a 7-3 Game 4 win and a 2-2 series tie.

Starter Doug Fister may not have thrown no-hit ball into the fifth inning, as all three previous Tigers starters did, but his sinker-curveball combination held baseball's best offense to one run in six innings before giving way to the bullpen.

And the hitters? The same crew that had struggled against Boston's pitching in Games 1 and 3 broke out in a major way—scoring five second-inning runs off Boston starter Jake Peavy and cruising to the easy victory.

Veteran outfielder Torii Hunter said the lineup switch made a genuine difference—even if the pieces didn't change, shuffling their order allowed the Tigers to hit the reset button. They needed to feel like something had changed.

"It makes a difference. I wish I could explain it to you guys, to civilians—it changes your mindset," Hunter said—noting that his manager understands that sometimes little changes can make a huge difference.

"Leyland has a meaning behind everything," Hunter said. "Fifty-one years in this game? I'm pretty sure he's picked up some wisdom along the way. When he's doing something, he has a meaning behind it. You really can't question a guy like that. You can always second-guess him, but he knows what he's doing. You saw that today."

Leyland admitted after the game that he knew the offensive outburst it wasn't about where the batters hit in the order. But sometimes, he said, change for change's sake can sometimes be just what is needed, and can get the players out of their own heads.

"We needed something. I felt like fans, members of the media, myself, probably the players, if the truth be known—I think something had to be done," Leyland said.

The lineup change was texted to the players in the morning, to make sure they woke up to something jarring, Leyland said.

"Maybe sometimes just a jolt like that gets you back in sync a little bit," Leyland said.

That's exactly what happened for Jackson, the one man the lineup change impacted most, as he was dropped to the bottom of the order.

"I was asleep. That's what woke me up. That's kind of weird to wake up to that text," Jackson said.

Jackson responded with two singles and two walks, helping to spark Detroit's scoring all night. "I think it worked out for the best," he acknowledged.

Leyland said he'll keep the new lineup in place for Thursday's Game 5. It may not be jarring anymore, but now it's working—and if there's anything else Leyland has learned in 51 years in baseball, it's not to mess with a good thing.