Timlin, Myers: Savers who have been saviors

Mike Timlin and Mike Myers delivered 2 1/3 vital scoreless innings Sunday, making possible the Red Sox' 4-3 win over Minnesota. Timlin earned the win, improving to 4-1, and streamlined his ERA to 1.38. Myers allowed only his third extra-base hit of the season but no runs, reducing his ERA to 3.04.

''Those two guys are irreplaceable," said catcher Jason Varitek. ''Timlin's been a rock. Mike's been a rock, in the situations in which he pitches."

But perhaps their most impressive statistic is this: They are the only members of the bullpen the Sox enlisted on Opening Night who are still in the bullpen.

At Yankee Stadium April 3, the bullpen looked like this: Blaine Neal and John Halama in middle/long relief, Alan Embree, Timlin, and Matt Mantei in setup roles, Myers in the lefthanded specialist role, and Keith Foulke closing.

Neal was designated for assignment May 8. Mantei was placed on the disabled list July 2, then had season-ending ankle ligament surgery. Foulke joined Mantei on the DL July 6, when he underwent arthroscopic knee surgery. Embree was designated for assignment July 19 and made his Yankee debut Saturday. Halama, too, was designated July 26.

Timlin is 39, Myers 36. Timlin has made 863 career appearances, Myers 725. And yet they rank No. 1 and 2 on the team in ERA (not including Manny Delcarmen, who has not allowed a run in his two appearances). Timlin has not given up a run of his own in his last 11 appearances dating to July 5. His July ERA was 0.71.

A new port

The Sox are losing vice president of baseball operations Mike Port, who has been named vice president of umpiring by Major League Baseball. The well-respected Port, who has spent more than 35 years in the game, joined the Sox in February 1993 as assistant general manager and was named to his current post in October 1996. He was interim GM during the 2002 season, holding down the fort during the ownership transition. ''We are grateful for the many contributions Mike made to the Red Sox organization over the last 12 years," said president and CEO Larry Lucchino . . . David Wells pitched four seasons in New York and relished most everything that city brought him, including the bounty of late-night options and celebrity fun (he once appeared on ''Saturday Night Live," accompanied by David Cone, dressed in drag). And yet Wells said Saturday night on NESN's postgame show that he now goes directly home after games. ''This city is by far the worst," Wells said. ''You can't go out. It's Cameratown, it's not Beantown. I can understand where Manny [Ramirez] is coming from. There's no room to breathe." . . . Jon Papelbon's seven strikeouts in his major league debut gave him 111 in 115 innings with Double A Portland, Triple A Pawtucket, and the Sox. That's 8.7 strikeouts per nine innings. In three professional seasons at all levels of the Sox system, Boston included, he's fanned 300 in 277 1/3 innings, or 9.7 per nine innings . . . The back-to-back home runs by David Ortiz and John Olerud Sunday marked the third time the Sox have gone back-to-back this season. Six different players have been part of that feat. Johnny Damon and Trot Nixon hit consecutive home runs April 30 at Texas. Doug Mirabelli and Mark Bellhorn went deep June 29 vs. Cleveland . . . One of the great things about youth is the unpredictability that accompanies it. Take Sunday's game, when manager Terry Francona went to the mound to give Delcarmen the hook. ''I went to get the ball and he shook my hand," Francona said. ''I kind of liked that. Some guys are throwing their hands up, he's running for mayor. That's OK." . . . The Sox needed nine wins in their closing 12 games to do it, but they managed an above-.500 July. With a 14-13 record, the Sox notched their seventh straight month with a winning record, dating to July 2004 . . . Yesterday was a day of meetings on Yawkey Way. The key decisions will be how and if Delcarmen and Papelbon fit. The club must make a roster move today to activate outfielder Jose Cruz Jr. . . . Big news (and we mean big) from the Gulf Coast Rookie League yesterday: Rich Garces pitched a scoreless inning for the Red Sox' team in its 4-1 loss to a Twins affiliate. El Guapo, who is 34, played in Boston from 1996-2002.

Amalie Benjamin of the Globe staff contributed to this report.