In between the drama of a pennant race and the pressure cooker of the playoffs, comes a day like today. A day when absolutely nothing is up for grabs. Yesterday the Red Sox won and the Indians lost, guaranteeing the Red Sox the best record in the AL (they'd win a tiebreaker with Cleveland) and Fenway-advantage throughout the postseason.

The win yesterday (you might want to sit down) came largely thanks to J.D. Drew, who tripled and hit the game-winning home run in the 6-4 win over the Twins. Drew didn't stick around Friday night for the Yankee collapse, and said of Papelbon's postgame Bacchanalia, "If I saw my son doing that dance on TV, we would have had a long talk, that's for sure."

Future celebration plans shall be turned over to Daisuke Matsuzaka, who said in Japan, "we lift the manager in the air three, four times" after big wins. It's a good idea, and we'd like to see the Patriots adopt it with Belichick.

But in the meantime, there's a game to play today. The still-earthbound Terry Francona has made a pitching switch; with nothing on the line, he'll let Schilling rest some more (and move him up to Game 2 against the Angels) and send Julian Tavarez out to try to finish off the Twins. We expect a fairly hodgepodge starting lineup today, too.

So if you want drama, keep your eyes on the National League. The Mets and Phillies are tied, and both are sending out old men to the mound today (Jamie Moyer in Philly; Tom Glavine at Shea). The Mets' John Maine almost threw a no-hitter yesterday to stop NY's freefall. The most fun scenario would be the Mets and Phillies both winning, along with a Colorado win and a San Diego loss, which would require a flurry of one-game qualifiers. Fun, that is, if you're not a fan of one of those teams with stomach issues.

In other sports, the Revolution beat the Rapids 1-0. BC held off UMass, while Harvard and Holy Cross both lost. As did almost every high-ranked college football team in the land. And Notre Dame. Crazy times.

Don't forget the Sox rally at City Hall Monday evening! Bostonist probably won't be there, since we have to truck out to Central Mass. and make sure we're sitting on the exact same side of the exact same couch we've sat on for every Patriot blowout so far this year.