ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Justin Masterson hasn’t known Jonathan Papelbon long, and hadn’t even witnessed the Red Sox closer do his postseason thing until just over a week ago.

But it was Masterson, the relief-pitching protégé, who took aim at describing his mentor in front of a gathering of media members following the Red Sox’ 2-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series, and nailed a bulls-eye.

“He’s half-man, half-amazing,” said Masterson of Papelbon.

Actually, after doing his part by explaining what went into blowing three Tampa Bay batters away for his sixth career postseason save, and just before heading off to remove the packs of ice that littered his right arm, Papelbon proceeded to offer his own self-description.

“I’m 'The Hitman',” he said, walking toward the trainer’s room in the Tropicana Field visitors clubhouse.

As far as Papelbon was concerned, this label was the one that fit just right following his latest postseason effort. For one, it merged with the swift and succinct domination he displayed in sandwiching two strikeouts around a Cliff Floyd pop-out in the ninth inning.

Siphoning from the playoff adrenaline, along with the rejuvenation garnered through a bit more rest in the regular season’s final days, Papelbon pumped 95 mph fastballs that appeared to be five ticks faster past the likes of Carl Crawford and Dioner Navarro.

That performance, however, wasn’t the primary impetus for his newest moniker. The ball resting on the shelf in his locker offered a better explanation.

It was the ball that Papelbon ended his outing with, the same one he had cavalierly tossed into the clubhouse trash bucket moments after the win. The same one he would later go fish out of said barrel upon realizing it’s importance.

It was that baseball which punctuated what turned out to be a record-setting performance in which Papelbon surpassed the late Joe Niekro for most career scoreless postseason innings. With the scoreless ninth he has now failed to allow a run over 20 2/3 innings, spanning 13 outings.

What it also did was draw Papelbon one step closer to a promotion from “Hitman”. In the Red Sox reliever’s mind, Yankees closer Mariano Rivera is the “Godfather” of relief pitchers, a title the Sox flamethrower is not shy about trying to attain.

“For me, I’ve always told myself big leaguers are remembered throughout this game for what they do in the postseason and championships,” Papelbon explained. “For me, it’s always been a critical part of my game to step it up in the postseason. What can I say? I just take one inning at a time and just keep trying to run with it.”

Fortunately for the Red Sox, Papelbon has found himself in a full sprint at just the right time.

“I think over the past eight appearances we’re seeing the life, because he does such a great job of channeling the emotion and adrenaline that gives him that added life at the end,” said Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell. “There were some games in September where we pushed him pretty hard and he didn’t have the necessary recovery time. But he’s added the extra velocity, and he’s used the split a little more, and because of it he’s back to what we’ve grown accustomed to seeing in not only that unpredictability, but also that added life to the fastball.”

What it all has done is to help continue to put Papelbon on the fast track to baseball immortality. When he gets up in the fifth inning to jog lightly back and forth before going through his windup, it is on his mind. As he ramps up his stretching the following innings, he is cognizant of it. And as he fires his first fastballs of the night into the bullpen catcher’s mitt, the purpose is clear.

Papelbon is fully aware of what this time of year means, not only for the present, but for his future.

“It’s all about taking it to a new level,” he said. “Postseason is something to where … it matters a little bit more in postseason. You can look at all these great players throughout history and none of them are really remembered until they win championships, and none of them are really remembered until they do special things in postseason. I’ve kind of always taken that to heart with my play.”

He is half-man, half-amazing. He is always the ‘Hitman’. But, above all, Jonathan Papelbon is one driven pitcher.

“There’s a reason he has such great postseason performance,” Farrell said. “If  (the adrenaline) worked against him I don’t think we would see the type of performance he has had. When he has proper rest, and he’s in the right place mentally, which he always is in those situations, he’s as good as there is in the game.”