Welcome change for Cabrera

Let's say Boston is the sun of the baseball universe, where hope and criticism burn bright, where a city revolves around the game.

Staying with the metaphor, that would make Montreal baseball's Pluto, a cold, dreary place way out on the fringes.

That was the magnitude of the adjustment facing shortstop Orlando Cabrera.

But after looking overmatched by the daunting task of going from baseball afterthought to baseball epicenter, Cabrera delivered his best moment as a member of the Red Sox last night.

Cabrera slammed the game-winning hit -- a ninth-inning double -- in a 5-4 triumph over the Toronto Blue Jays.

"I have done it in Montreal, but it's not 35,000 people," said Cabrera, who knocked in Johnny Damon from first. "[The fans] deserve it. They come here every night just to support the team."

That's not the way it was during Cabrera's stint in Montreal, where he was voted the team's most valuable player in 2001 and 2003.

He played in cavernous Olympic Stadium, where fans were scarce and the atmosphere was comparable to a mausoleum's. But not having the big crowds meant not having the same pressure. Cabrera learned that lesson quickly.

He had struggled since coming to the Hub, charged as the man to step into Nomar Garciaparra's spikes at shortstop.

"I wanted to do my job right away," said Cabrera, who the Sox said was brought in to upgrade the defense. "I wanted to make a good impression."

Cabrera hit a home run in his first at-bat for the Red Sox, then went cold. He was mired in a 3-for-24 slump when his defense betrayed him, too.

On Monday, Cabrera hit his low point when the Fenway faithful jeered him for making two errors against the Blue Jays. The newcomer turned to his teammates, asking them for advice on dealing with his new surroundings.

"Sometimes you need to talk to people who have been around here," said David Ortiz, who urged Cabrera not to let the pressure consume him.

The shortstop went to Pedro Martinez, too, and heard more of the same.

Cabrera's redemption came quickly.

With one out and Damon on first, Cabrera lined a slider from Justin Speier off the Monster in left center.

"I was looking for a slider the whole time, especially something up," Cabrera said. "And he left his slider hanging."

In a classic only-in-Fenway bounce, the ball rocketed straight up when it hit off the top of the scoreboard.Center fielder Vernon Wells had to wait for the ball to come back to earth before he could relay it, and that gave Damon an extra second to get around the bases.

"I just put my head down and ran and was paying attention to Dale [Sveum] over at third," said Damon. "I knew there was going to be a good chance that he'd wave me in."

Damon beat the throw home, and just like that Cabrera finally looked like he was feeling at home.

The faithful gave him an enormous ovation when he emerged from the dugout for a postgame television interview.

"That's a big knock for him," manager Terry Francona said. "I mean, big for us, but maybe bigger for him. He's going to go home feeling good about himself."