Different Heroes Keep Popping Up Every Night for Red Sox

They lost Bruce Hurst, they lost Nick Esasky, they lost the patience of every Ma Bell operator in America as Lou Gorman played a never-ending game of telephone tag that got him nothing but laryngitis and worried looks from the Fenway Park faithful. What would the Boston Red Sox do in late June, when the baseball season began to turn serious?

Would you believe win seven in a row? Would you believe take four from the Toronto Blue Jays and catapult past them into first place? By 3 1/2 games?

Believe it. No need to pull up your Sox, sports fans. In this, the first week of summer, your Sox pulled up themselves.

When the Blue Jays flew to Boston four days ago, they had a half-game lead in the American League East and Red Sox Manager Joe Morgan had a modest goal: Split the four-game series and keep this race close.

Today, it is the Blue Jays -- returning home for a four-game series with the Oakland A’s -- who must worry about keeping the race close. What if they lose four to the A’s and the Red Sox end this unblemished homestand by winning four against the Texas Rangers? What if the Red Sox open a 7 1/2 game lead in this Humpty Dumpty division and then forget how to fall?

Idle dreams? Maybe not. Only overwhelming New England angst, the byproduct of near-perennial past disasters, keeps Red Sox fans from strutting in public today. Only New England angst had you wondering Thursday night if none other than Roger Clemens was going to mute the gains of the previous three days by blowing another series finale.

Couldn’t happen to the ace? Are you kidding? The Sox took two from the A’s at Fenway in late April, only to blow the sweep when Clemens lost the series finale. Even more unbelievably, the Red Sox were on the verge of sweeping the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway June 18 when Clemens blew that one with his worst outing of the season.

Would he do it again? Would seven million Sox fans wake up this morning staring at a measly 1 1/2-game lead and say, “if only?�

No. No, because Mike Greenwell, who was 1-for-10 this season with the bases loaded, singled in Tony Pena and Luis Rivera with the sacks jammed in the fifth, Rivera proving to be the winning run in a game that should enter the record books as Red Sox 4, Fred McGriff (two home runs) 3.

No, because while Clemens (12-3) was hardly flawless (eight hits), he was dominant when he had to be, striking out nine before Jeff Reardon closed out the Blue Jays in the ninth.

It’s still 10 days to the All-Star break, but it is hard for Red Sox fans not to be giddy. Just as it is hard for Blue Jays fans not to feel a bit nauseous.

In this series, the Blue Jays showed a sampling of why they have been one of baseball’s most consistently disappointing teams since the mid-1980s. Some of the names and faces may have changed, but in this series they looked very much like the team that blew a 3-1 lead to the Royals in the 1985 American League Championship Series, like the team that blew a 3 1/2-game lead in 1987 by losing their final seven games.

The Blue Jays are second in the league in hitting, first in fielding percentage. They have good young players, good veterans, a good pitching staff. You want power? They have outhomered the Sox 100-44 this season. You want speed? When Dwight Evans lumbered into his first stolen base of the season Thursday night, the Sox had closed that gap to 49-18.

But the only gap that matters is 3 1/2 games.

No, these Sox are not kicking up their heels. When half the rotation is named Kiecker and Harris, you tend not to.

What gets you giddy is that different heroes keep popping up every night. That Greenwell is starting to look like a hitter again. That an in-and-outer like Mike Boddicker has won nine consecutive times and is unbeaten in his past 12 decisions. That perennial disappointment Wes Gardner two-hit the Jays for six innings in the Sox’ 3-0 victory Tuesday night. That Kiecker gets his lungs torn out after one inning in the series opener and the Sox still win because Blue Jays ace Dave Stieb can’t get anyone out.

Two years ago, when surly John McNamara got the boot and Tollway Joe took over, they called it Morgan Magic.

Morgan’s not working any magic this time. There’s nothing magical about Jody Reed turning into one of the best players in the league. There’s nothing magical about Evans still being able to strike the big blow, about guys such as Rivera and Carlos Quintana proving they belong. What’s magical, for those who get up close and personal with the Red Sox on a yearly basis, is that there doesn’t seem to be any of that bad karma lying around. The Blue Jays had won 15 games in a row at Fenway when they came back to Boston Monday. Four days of frustration at Fenway have won them nothing but the dubious delight of four days with their favorite house guests, the A’s. While the Red Sox, having posted a perfect score on their biggest midterm exam, can’t wait to get back to the ballpark to test themselves some more. They warm to their task. As New England warms to a summer romance that, to the surprise of many, just might turn out to be the real thing.