McAdam: Victory in series finale with Astros could help Red Sox down the road

The Red Sox have the best record in baseball, the second-largest lead of any first-place team and can officially clinch a playoff spot in the next couple of days.

It would be absurd, then, to attach too much significance to Sunday night's series finale with the Houston Astros. The Sox are going to win their division and enter the postseason with home-field advantage all the way through. If they had lost Sunday and the Astros left town with a sweep, it wouldn't have meant much in the big picture for the Red Sox.

It would have been another day off the calendar and one step closer to the playoffs. Ho-hum.

Still, there was something significant about the Red Sox' 6-5 victory, perhaps something that can't be measured in the standings or in the win-loss column. As the Red Sox mobbed Mitch Moreland, supplier of the game-winning hit that produced the walk-off win, there was a sense of ... what? Relief? Validation?

The Astros had come to town Friday with a head of steam, winners of their last five and with wins in each of the first two games appeared to be sending a message to the Red Sox: You may have the better record and you may be on your way to wrapping up home-field advantage, but we're still the defending champions.

And when the Astros rallied for four runs in the sixth, first chasing starter Rick Porcello, then clubbing relievers Heath Hembree and Brian Johnson, it looked like the Astros were going to put an exclamation point on their weekend visit. Not only were they intent on becoming the first team to sweep the Sox at Fenway this season, but they were leaving a bit of calling card for October.

It would be a not-so-subtle reminder: the Astros already know how to win when it matters most. The Red Sox? Their last two division titles bought them exactly one (1) playoff win the last two Octobers.

But after coughing up the four-run lead in the sixth, the Red Sox wouldn't buckle further. They cut down a go-ahead run at the plate in the seventh, and wiggled out of a first-and-second, one-out mess in the eighth.

Then, having squandered opportunities for the first 26 innings of the series (6-for-30 with runners in scoring position; 25 runners stranded), the Sox snapped to life in the ninth. Two singles and a fielder's choice resulted in two on and two out for Moreland, who sliced a soft liner to the opposite field, enough to score pinch-runner Tzu-Wei Lin from second.

Instead of being swept, the Red Sox made a bit of a statement.

Alex Cora wasn't about to get too caught up in the win, because over the long regular season, it's dangerous for managers to ascribe too much importance to any one victory -- no matter the circumstances, no matter the opponent.

"Just another day we won,'' shrugged Cora. "(Monday's) an off-day and we get to the next series.''

But in the clubhouse, his players weren't as casual. Again, no one wanted to sound overly enthused about No. 98, because that would be bad form and maybe peel the curtain back on some uncertainty the Sox feel toward Houston, their playoff tormentors from last fall.

There was, however, a palpable sense that this one meant something.

"We haven't done anything yet, so every game's a must win,'' said Porcello. "I truly believe that everyone in this clubhouse is thinking that way and treating it that way. It's a long season. We're approaching every game like it's a must-win. We haven't clinched a division, we haven't gotten a playoff spot yet, so we've got to keep playing. We're in a great spot, but we've got to keep going.''

And there's this: when the Red Sox traveled to Houston at the end of May, the Astros held serve for the first two games, winning twice at home. But then the Sox rallied to win the next two and gain a split in the series.

This weekend, the pattern was similar. Houston grabbed the first two, but the Sox battled back to get the last one.

"We're trying to win every one of 'em,'' said Moreland. "You don't want to lose any of them. We take pride in going out and trying to win and that's the way we feel about all of them.''

Again, no declarations, no overt acknowledgments that this one meant a little something extra.

But however quietly, the Red Sox showed -- to themselves -- that they aren't about to be intimidated by any potential October opponent. And, perhaps, that this post-season promises to be different.