With their young, dime-store pen proving mightier than the swords in the favored Red Sox' lineup, the Indians took the lead in an ALCS that had the rare look of a drawn-out October drama

Cabrera completed an acrobatic double play in Game 2, which was decided by Trot Nixon's 11th-inning single. Damian Strohmeyer/SI

Before every home game the Boston Red Sox rip open cartons of new baseballs to use for batting practice. Given the ease with which they fly out of the ballpark, many of the balls are destined to have a life span of one pitch. While most clubs reuse practice and game balls for BP, tumbling them through a machine to clean them, the Red Sox cut no such corners. The new balls, like fresh Titleists on a range or fresh flowers in an office lobby, are a small daily reminder that Boston has the means and passion to operate like nobody else this side of the New York Yankees. "Money," says one Red Sox veteran, "is no object here."

If the Yankees are the Boardwalk of baseball's Monopoly, the Red Sox are its Park Place. Their payroll ($143 million) could nearly cover the combined payrolls of the three other league championship contenders, Arizona, Colorado and Cleveland ($167 million). Under the stewardship of principal owner John Henry, who purchased the club in 2001, the Red Sox, famously known for conditioning their fans to assume the worst, have turned around the culture of the franchise.

Indeed, a major shift in the outlook of Red Sox Nation was evident at the start of the American League Championship Series against Cleveland, when Boston found itself in a position unknown to the franchise since Babe Ruth last wore the uniform in 1918: the clear-cut team to beat. After winning a division title for the first time in 12 years, racking up the most wins in baseball (96, tied with Cleveland) for the first time in 61 years and rolling to three straight postseason wins over the Los Angeles Angels by a combined score of 19-4, with sluggers David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez basically kicking sand in the face of any pitcher who dared get in their way (they would reach base 33 times in their first 44 tries this October), Boston looked every bit the heavy.

But just when the Nation looked to be swimming in milk and honey last Saturday night -- having won Game 1 10-3, Boston was 12 outs away from another victory as it pursued its second pennant in four seasons -- the Indians restored some old-time angst to Boston and some much-needed tension to a too-placid postseason. Cleveland scratched out the tying run in the sixth inning and later, with seven runs in the 11th, turned an extra-inning game into a blowout win, 13-6. For the first time in six series tries this postseason a team would not jump out to a two-games-to-none lead. That momentum carried over to Monday's Game 3 in Cleveland, where the Indians held off Boston 4-2.

The Indians didn't come to the postseason without some baggage. They possess the longest world championship drought in the league (59 years) and rely heavily on a young, dime-store bullpen anchored by one grizzled vet, Joe Borowski, the most disrespected closer in baseball. The 36-year-old righty is pitching for his 12th professional organization -- Newark Bears and Monterrey Sultans included -- and had a regular-season ERA of 5.07. From such apparent slights, however, do the Indians prosper.

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