Simply the Best: Sox win + Tribe loss gives Boston the best record

Sox 6, Twins 4
WP: Wakefield (17-12)
LP: Blackburn (0-2)
SV: Okajima (5)
HRs: BOS-Drew (11), Lowell (21); MIN-Mauer (7), White (4)

Things are going so well right now even Drew is right in the middle of the good times

SUMMARY
A day after wrapping up its first AL East title in 12 years the Red Sox secured the best record in baseball and homefield advantage that goes along with it as J.D. Drew hit a three-run homer in the seventh to defeat the Twins and Kansas City staged a late comeback to beat the Indians.

No, Papelbon didn't strip & dance on the mound to celebrate this milestone victory.

#1 STUNNER J.D. Drew 3-4, 2R, 3BI, 3B, HR
The ridiculed right fielder continues to smash out of his season-long slump just at the right time, drilling three more hits tonight, raising his average to the highest point its been at since mid-May, and helping people forget about his post game celebration no-show after last night's division-clinching win.

GAGME The Cleveland Indians
All their pitchers had to do was keep lowly K.C. from scoring any runs and then let the powerful Tribe offense lead the team to victory. Instead Jake Westbrook surrendered three runs in the first inning, the offense got shut down by a host of horrid Royal relievers, and the bullpen surrendered the best record-losing run in the bottom of the eighth.

Not exactly a clutch performance on the eve of the postseason. But thanks, though.

RECAP
He might not have been there for last night's maniacal & hysterical post game celebration, but J.D Drew did his part to ensure there would be another, perhaps more subdued, fete tonight when he blasted a three-run homer to help lead the Sox to the best record in baseball.

So what if he didn't get to see Papelbon in his Under Armor, coated in champagne & beer and acting like a pledge at a kegger, in person last night?

By now it's been well-documented that Drew left the park following last night's game due to family concerns (pregnant wife, healing son; if there's one thing we have learned about this quiet, quizzical player it's that he is a family man first and foremost), but with the support of his teammates and a blazing hot bat, Drew continued to play a major role in the Sox late-season resurgence.

The right fielder is batting .393 in his last 18 games and has raised his average from .252 to .270 (as in $70 million...?) in that time, and he was directly involved in most of the scoring action tonight.

After Sox starter Tim Wakefield (7IP, 6H, 4R, 3ER, BB, 2K, 2HR) spotted the Twins a 2-run lead on a pair of solo homers--a leadoff job by the ancient Rondell White in the third and a one-out shot by catcher Joe Mauer in the fourth--Drew ignited the Sox first rally with a solid triple to deep center field, then scored on a single by Kevin Youkilis (3-4, BI) to cut the deficit to 2-1.

Wake, who once again wasn't sharp by was good enough to earn his first win since August 25th, allowed RBI singles by Brian Buscher in the fifth and Mauer in the sixth to run the Minny lead to 4-1, but then Sox MVP Mike Lowell (2-4, 2R, 2BI) launched a solo shot to open the sixth to slice the lead in half, and after Wake set the Twins down in order in the seventh, Boston mounted a comeback that put an exclamation point on what has to be considered a spectacular regular season.

Coco Crisp led off the frame with a single to left off Twins reliever Nick Blackburn, and after Alex Cora followed with a single to move Crisp to second, Lowell negated a Manny strikeout with an RBI single to left, his 120th ribbie of the season, setting the stage for Drew's dramatics.

Drew battled Blackburn to a full count before depositing a fastball into the rightfield stands for his third homer in his last eighth games, and he rounded the bases to a rousing ovation from the Faithful, it felt as if this team is finally where we had all hoped it would be at this time of the season:

clicking on all cylinders.

On the heels of the news the Tribe had lost, Boston announced that Curt Schilling will not start the season finale tomorrow, fueling speculation that he will be the starter for Game 2 of the ALDS vs. Los Angeles of Anaheim, and you can expect a patchwork crew of position players to take the field for what has turned out to be an absolutely meaningless game on Sunday at Fenway.

And boy doesn't it feel good?

It's been a long, up & down road to this point, and hopefully the best is yet to come.

Enjoy football this Sunday.

After all, the Sox have given the Nation the gift of its first lazy Sunday in a long time.