For some, this is a new high

Bay & Co. savor first playoff taste

The new guys really didn't have any idea what to expect. They were not only new to the Red Sox but to the entire experience of getting into the playoffs. So when it came to clubhouse decorum in the postgame celebration, well, what clubhouse decorum?

That, too, was given a cold dose of bubbly and beer after the Sox clinched a playoff berth with last night's 5-4 victory over the Indians before a Fenway Park crowd of 37,882.

"Last year in Tampa, it was quieter," said manager Terry Francona.

This time?

"They looked very excited and they got to celebrate a little bit with the fans," said Francona. "They got to celebrate a little bit in the clubhouse. That's good."

"Hey," said rookie pitcher Justin Masterson. "You go big or you go home."

Soaking from head to toe, rookie infielder Jed Lowrie figured it was wise to don a pair of goggles. "Monkey see, monkey do," said Lowrie. "I saw people put them on, so I'm putting on the goggles."

For five of the last six years, the Sox have made it a practice to party like it's 1999 after a playoff-clinching victory. Last night, in the bottom of the fifth, Jason Bay gave them reason to break out the Korbel, the Bud Light, and the Romeo y Julieta cigars when he drove in the go-ahead run on a single off Indians ace Cliff Lee to score Dustin Pedroia, who had reached on a two-run double.

"I'm pouring champagne over Jason Bay's head, saying, 'You've waited a long time for this, huh?' " said Paul Byrd, who will take the mound against his former Cleveland teammates tonight. "He was super emotional.

"Even Sean Casey, who has had an amazing big league career, this is only his second time [in the playoffs]. It's one of those things in baseball where you have to be so appreciative to get here."

No one was more appreciative than Bay, who came to the Sox from Pittsburgh in a three-team trade that sent disgruntled left fielder Manny Ramírez to the Dodgers.

"The fans embraced me from Day 1," said Bay. "There's so many other good hitters on this team, they're not asking me to do anything monumental. They're just asking me to be me, do what I can do, and pitch in.

"I'm not trying to do what he did. I'm coming in and trying to help out and play a little defense, run the bases, whatever it is I can do to help out."

How meaningful was it for him to come up with the hit that propelled the Sox to a playoff-clinching victory?

"I guess it's a little bit of icing on the cake, you could say," Bay said. "It was a nice little cap to the end . . . a good way to clinch."

It had to give general manager Theo Epstein a sense of satisfaction to see the left fielder come through in the clutch.

"I'm happy for him, but it's no more gratifying than any of the other hard-working players who were focused on winning," Epstein said. "You don't single guys out, but for him, I think getting in means an awful lot because he toiled without much of a chance for many years in his career."

But now Bay has a chance. And for that, he is appreciative.

"I have a little bit of a different perspective than other guys, given where I came from the last five seasons," Bay said. "I have a great appreciation, not that everyone else doesn't, but it just feels that way."

When Jonathan Papelbon induced Victor Martinez to pop up to Alex Cora for the final out, Bay came sprinting in from left field, high-fiving Cora before lunging into a mosh pit of teammates.

"When you get out there and you see a bunch of grown men jumping around like kids, you get caught up in it and you realize it's not about each individual guy," said Bay. "It's about everybody going after the same goal, regardless of who does what.

"You want to win ballgames and that's what we're doing. I couldn't have picked a better place, a better group of guys, I love going out there every day with them. This is the top."