Cheered leaders

With the Red Sox' 7-3 win over Oakland, and that 7-6 Yankees loss, the magic number for Boston to clinch the American League East slipped down to 3, with five games to play.

"I looked up and saw it was blank," Kevin Youkilis said of the space next to "TB" on the scoreboard. "It was blank for a while. You could tell they were trying to cater to Red Sox fans. Then I saw the '6' and saw everyone cheer.

"I knew Gagné had no idea what was going on. He looked so confused out there. I think he was looking for a guy running on the field, to be honest."

But there was no runner. It was good news this time, news that became final after most of the Red Sox - including Gagné, who did not speak to the media - had already exited the clubhouse.

So after a week in which the negatives began to predominate - the sweep in Toronto, the nagging injuries to Manny Ramírez and Youkilis, the shutdown of Hideki Okajima, the onrushing Yankees (and Indians and Angels) - there was cause for celebration.

In Curt Schilling's six-inning, six-strikeout, one-run performance. In J.D. Drew's three hits (which gave him 18 in 14 games). And in the race for the playoffs.

"That was a good win tonight," Youkilis said. "We had some good hitting. Guys did a great job pitching. That's the biggest thing - pitching will take us as far as we can go.

"To come back home, it was great to get a win, start out on a good note. We need momentum going into the playoffs."

Getting Ramírez, Youkilis, and, as of tomorrow, Okajima back doesn't hurt, either. And that was where the cheer - and cheering - originated at Fenway last night.

"It's a good time, all of them coming in," David Ortiz said. "Those guys are part of this team, part of this lineup, and we need them."

But it wasn't just the returnees. Schilling did his part, his newly discovered role of six-inning pitcher not a problem last night for him or for the team. In perhaps his final full start before the playoffs - though he is penciled in for Sunday's game against the Twins - Schilling staked his claim to the No. 2 spot in the postseason rotation with another crisp outing, earning his first win since Aug. 24 at Chicago.