One word sums up the spirit felt within Fenway Park on Tuesday night: confidence.

The Red Sox returned home from its West Coast roadtrip exhausted (players, management and sleep-deprived fans alike) and with a 3-4 record. Offense had been shaky. The team continued to hit too many double play balls for comfort. And Tim Wakefield, who had struggled through a tough month-long stretch of starts, was slated to take the mound.

And yet it seemed there was no one even entertaining the notion that the Sox would not take the frist game of their three-game series against the Colorado Rockies. It didn't matter that the game was a nailbiter of a pitching matchup between Wakefield (eight innings, four hits, three strikeouts, one walk) and Rockie pitcher Aaron Cook (7 1/3 innings, seven hits, four strikeouts, two walks). Jonathan Papelbon and Hideki Okajima were warming up in the bullpen. Coco Crisp was making brilliant diving catches in center field.

Close game = no problem. The Sox were going to win it and everyone but the occasional Colorado fan fan seemed to know it.

The Sox jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the third when Julio Lugo scored off Kevin Youkilis' RBI double. It should be noted that Lugo was part of a new lineup shuffle that planted the offensively challenged batter ninth and red-hot Dustin Pedroia at the top.

Boston maintained the slim lead until Brian Hawpe scored off a single from Yorvit Torreabla to tie it up, but the hometown team came back minutes later. After Pedroia, David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez loaded the bases (with a single, double and intentional walk, respectively), J.D. Drew launched a sacrifice fly that gave pinch runner Alex Cora ample time to book it home for the game-winner.

By the time the bullpen gate opened and Papelbon came out (after knocking fists with Officer Billy Dunn, whose feature in the Boston Globe on Tuesday led to an even louder roar of approval from the fans), the fans were set to really enjoy those final three outs. Papelbon delivered with a return to form (three batters, two strikeouts) that didn't even give Colorado a chance.

-- Pitching was also celebrated in Detroit on Tuesday. Justin Verlander unleashed every tool in his toolbox to pitch the Tigers to their first no-hitter since 1984 and the first in Comerica Park history as Detroit defeated the Brewers 4-0.

-- Tony Parker and the Spurs continued their sweeping ways on Tuesday night, defeating the Cavs 75-72.

Photos by Victoria Welch