If there is champagne to be uncorked in the Red Sox clubhouse at any time over the next two months, they'll trace the flow of bubbles back to today.

Back to the laser Jed Lowrie launched over the wall in right. Back to the beautiful grab Jason Bay made a half-frame earlier to keep the would-be-game-winner out of scoring position. Back to a 6-5 extra-innings win that so far ranks as one of the team's best in 2008, and will surely remain one of its most important should it procure a spot in the postseason.

Really, there's no way it can be understated — in terms of either importance or impressiveness — given what the Sox were up against. Not only were they in their own house of horrors (having struggled to even look good at Rogers Centre, let alone win), but they were also battling a Blue Jay bunch that'd been baseball's third-best (19-11) over the past 30 days; they were battling the AL's top pitching staff, this day led by A.J. Burnett and his career 1.98 ERA against them; they were battling a tired bullpen, which had worked more than 18 innings over the four previous games; they were battling significant offensive injuries that had sapped them of three offensive threats — oh, as well as their piece-of-crap shortstop; and they were battling the uncertainty of their own pitching, with Josh Beckett in limbo, Jon Lester just getting rocked, and Tim Wakefield set to come off the disabled list to start Tuesday.

But they overcame it all to get the victory, and did it in a warm-and-fuzzy fashion where the contributions came from everybody — even the least likely of sources. Early, it was Dustin Pedroia turning on a 96 mph head-high heater and yanking it over the left field wall to give the Sox an advantage. Late, it was Coco Crisp spinning on an inside fastball to pull the Sox even after the Jays' surged to the lead. Later, a quartet of relievers allowed just a hit and a walk over five full frames to keep Toronto out of scoring position — nevermind out of the win column. And latest, it was a rookie whose second big-league blast was the winner.

I could go on, of course, but the bottom line is this: We now know that this is a team with baseballs. Its character and guts hadn't been particularly apparent since a few comebacks over April and May, it was made to seem somewhat mentally futile by the Manny fiasco, and as injuries began to unravel things, this season had begun to take on a 2006 feel.

But today allayed those fears. Today was a "cup check" of sorts, and the Red Sox proved they've not only got something to protect, they're willing to protect it. As a result, they're now 4-2 on this crucial road trip. They're heading to the Bronx with the Yankees at a safer distance. They're still in command of the wild card spot, with the Rays remaining reachable in the division.

And — most importantly — they're a lot closer to sipping October champagne than they were a day before.