The Central protagonists

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Joel Pineiro was asked whether this Red Sox team reminds of him of the Seattle Mariners squad he was on that won 116 games in 2001. He paused for a second and said, "In that then it seemed there was somebody different every day doing little things to win a game."

The Sox beat the Rangers yesterday, 6-5, and Pineiro pointed out the many contributors. "We had Coco [Crisp], who just gave us an incredible play [a great catch in the seventh] to keep us going, and that really lifted me and it lifted our entire team," he said. "You get Dustin [Pedroia] hitting a key home run late in the game, which we needed. I'd say given things like that -- and we've been doing them all year -- yeah, there are similarities [to the Mariners]."

Like Seattle in '01, the Sox are having fun. They're winning. They're dominating. And there are few signs it will change any time soon.

The Sox left the heart of Texas after their three-game sweep of the Rangers for home and a very important series against one of the American League's elite teams, the Cleveland Indians, starting tonight at Fenway Park.

It may be that Cleveland and lefties Cliff Lee and Jeremy Sowers and righty Paul Byrd, who has more wins (5) than walks (3) this season, comes in and plays very well. Or that Trot Nixon will return to his former stomping grounds and be a pain to scheduled Sox starters Curt Schilling, the returning Josh Beckett, and Daisuke Matsuzaka. But what you're likely to see is two good teams playing hard against each other in one of those potential October-preview series.

Actually, such a good matchup is highly anticipated in large part because so much of this season has gone Boston's way.

The Red Sox had to break a sweat yesterday when they relinquished a 3-0 lead and had to come back from a 4-3 deficit to win it with two runs in the eighth and Pedroia's ninth-inning solo homer, but otherwise there hasn't been much heavy lifting for the Sox.

While they've had a hiccup or two, losing two of three to the Yankees at the start of the six-game road trip, they've been the best team in baseball, and their division hasn't put up much of a fight.

Tonight Schilling will try to rebound from a below-average outing against the Yankees his last time out, tomorrow night Beckett returns from the avulsion to his right middle finger, and Wednesday night Dice-K returns from his stomach ailment of Friday night, so all have incentive to pitch well.

The Sox are on their way to running away with the East -- currently holding an 11 1/2-game lead over second-place Baltimore and a 12 1/2-game bulge over the Yankees.

The Indians come in having swept a three-game series in Detroit that pushed them past the Tigers into first place in the AL Central. They should battle the defending AL champs down to the wire barring another late-season collapse, and they provide a good test for the Olde Towne Team at home.

When the Sox faced the same situation against Detroit and Atlanta on the last homestand, they beat them three out of four and two out of three, respectively. The other quality team they faced -- the Angels in April -- wasn't thrilled with playing in the cold weather. Boston won three games from Anaheim. The Sox also have won six of the nine games against the Yankees this season, but one could argue they aren't a very good team right now.

The Red Sox did some very good things yesterday, a microcosm of how things have played out over the first 49 games. Pineiro is one of their secondary relievers, but his 1 2/3 scoreless innings, aided by Crisp's incredible diving catch to end the seventh, which robbed Frank Catalonotto of extra bases and two RBIs, shows how important the bullpen is.

There's no question bullpens win or lose divisions, pennants, and World Series. So far the Sox haven't had to overuse Jonathan Papelbon, primarily because of the advent of Hideki Okajima, who despite giving up a run in the ninth yesterday got Sammy Sosa to fly to center to end the game.

Texas is 18-32 and not a very good team, though to Boston's credit it scored two runs in the eighth off reliever Akinori Otsuka, who hadn't given up an earned run in seven outings. But the Sox know they've got to turn it up a notch against Cleveland.

"We set out today to win and we did that," said manager Terry Francona. "Now we've got to move on. We go home and play a real good team. We'll get consumed with Cleveland for the next three days."

The Indians have scored 271 runs, most in the AL. They're 29-7 when they score four or more runs. The 124 walks their staff has allowed are fewest in the majors.

There also will be the emotion of Nixon's return to Fenway.

There'll be a lot of comparisons to J.D. Drew, and how Nixon's $3 million per year currently is a better value than Drew's $14 million.

But Drew, who had been slumping, showed signs of life yesterday with a pair of hits, one that set the table for Jason Varitek's three-run homer in the fourth, and the other that drove in the tying run in the eighth.

Said Francona of Nixon (.281, 2 homers, 20 RBIs), "He'll run through a wall trying to win a game," and the manager referenced Nixon's dirty hat and dirty helmet. "It's easy to like a guy like that, not just for me and the players and the coaches, but for the fans," he said. "He played the game hard, sometimes too much, and he'd wind up on the disabled list. You appreciate his attitude always."

Just as Drew appreciates Francona sticking with him throughout his poor start. As he said yesterday, "I have high expectations for myself and I want to help this team win ballgames. We've been going great and I haven't really felt a part of it yet, but hopefully I can change that soon."

The AL hasn't thrown the Sox much they haven't been able to handle, but every so often they play a team one could envision them facing in the postseason.

This time it's the Indians with a chance to show how well they can play against a good team.

Nick Cafardo can be reached at cafardo@globe.com.