We're going to the playoffs!

Sure, it's been an awful September, for the most part. And sure, the Red Sox still very much have to somehow finish off New York, and ideally fend off the Angels and Indians to secure home-field advantage throughout the postseason. But the first step is officially taken, as the Sox rallied to beat the Devil Rays 8-6 and ensure they would, at the very least, beat out Detroit for the Wild Card.

The game was scary for a while. The Sox wasted a so-so effort by Daisuke, and two homers by Northeastern's Carlos Pena put the Rays ahead 6-5. But then the Sox, and more importantly the Devil Rays, remembered how they engineered those two great comebacks at Fenway last week. Jason Varitek greeted closer Al Reyes with a tying home run, then Julio Lugo (!) sealed the deal with a two-run shot that put the game out of reach and gave a W to a grateful Eric Gagne. Papelbon shut the Rays down 1-2-3 in the ninth.

The postgame celebration was muted, as you'd expect from a team that's living the title of Sarah Maclachlan's breakthrough album. There were hearty handshakes, a champagne toast, and the obligatory words about how the team expects this to be the first of several champagne rallies over the next few weeks. So anyone expecting wild shenanigans, like the Japanese reporters who wore raincoats into the clubhouse, will just have to wait.

In Foxboro, the Patriots are claiming to a man that there won't be a letdown this afternoon against the (deservedly) 0-2 Bills. Maybe Belichick will get arrested before the game to fire up the team or something, but that will set the bar pretty high for the Cleveland game in a couple weeks.

In local Saturday action, BC whipped Army, the Revolution tied the New York Red Bulls, and the Celtics are trying to bring in Uruguayan big man Esteban Batista. In local Sunday action, it's Pats-Bills at 1, and Tim Wakefield versus Edwin Jackson as the Red Sox bid adieu to the Devil Rays and the road portion of their 2007 schedule. Next time we see them, they'll just be the Rays; UniWatch on ESPN has confirmed the story that the Devil Rays' "Devil" is going the way of the Mighty Ducks' "Mighty", and has links to their boring new uniforms in his Friday column.

Champagne bubbles courtesy of Flickr's Gaetan Lee.