Sox rock Rangers, keep on roll

There had been that jubilation the day before, when the clubhouse erupted at the sight of Gregg Zaun's home run that cost the Rays the game against Toronto. It was a lighthearted moment, a moment of fun on an often businesslike team, a moment that seemed as if it might propel the Sox to a win that night. But the Sox had not capitalized on that loss. It wouldn't happen like that again.

"We're playing great baseball, that's the fun part of it," Alex Cora said. "It's not that we struggle, but I think after that win in Toronto [Aug. 24, in 11 innings], I think we kind of found ourselves. Obviously we're in September, obviously it seems like we're playing with more emotion, we're showing it. It's fun, man, especially when you win. That's the fun part of it.

"You watch games, and you know where everybody's at. Whoever says they don't do that, you just saw it. We're lying."

The Rays had already been swept by Toronto, for their fifth loss in six games, when the Red Sox finished off Texas yesterday at Rangers Ballpark at Arlington. Before 28,644 partisan fans that left Paul Byrd wondering if he should tip his cap to the visiting crowd, the Sox closed to 1 1/2 games back in the American League East, winning it, 7-2.

"We played two good games, one kind of a clunker," manager Terry Francona said about the series. "Now we get to go home and play, hopefully, some of the most exciting baseball of the year. We've played ourselves into a position where these games are really important. It's exciting."

Behind a three-hit effort from Byrd over 6 2/3 innings, despite an uncharacteristic three walks, and David Ortiz's first home run since Aug. 14, the Sox cruised over the Rangers. And, with that, the real fun begins.

"I'm fired up," Byrd said. "It's going to be like a playoff atmosphere, if it wasn't already. It's going to be even more like a playoff game. I'm looking forward to that."

He isn't alone. Not only will the Sox set the major league record for consecutive sellouts tonight, but they'll get to face off against an opponent that simply hasn't gone away. There is an advantage for the Sox, though. The teams will be playing at Fenway Park. Through four series this season against the Rays, each team has won the six games played in their own ballpark.

Advantage, Sox (at least for these next three).