Here we are.

Well, they took it one game at a time, and won them both. Now we find ourselves in a familiar position - Game 7. Momentum now resides with the Olde Towne Team, but we are left to wonder if that will be enough to punch their ticket to the World Series.

I'd love to analyze all the matchups and breakdowns of tonight's game, looking for any keys or indicators that could provide an insight to the climactic game, but quite frankly I'm too jittery.

When the Sox were down 3 games to 1, I wasn't all that upset; during the first half of this series, the Sox were playing the same type of baseball they had tended to play during their slumps throughout the season. While others called for wholesale changes, I hoped Tito would hold the line with the personnel decisions under the assumption that "you have to dance with the girl that brought you," and that girl has been looking good for the past two games.

When the lineup becomes Ortiz, Manny, and seven automatic outs, its tough to squeeze out a victory. But look what's happened the past two nights - Pedroia and Youkilis getting some breaks at the top of the lineup, Lowell providing some cagey veteran experience in the five hole, and even the much-maligned J.D. Drew slugging a game-breaking homer to blow open Game 6 in the bottom of the first inning.

(Incidentally, I told you so. I had a feeling Drew would erase five months of frustration will several well-timed hits. He's provided at least one. Let's see if he's gonna give us any more at the best possible time.)

When the lineup is producing, they will score runs. When the pitchers are tossing like Beckett and Schill did the past several nights, they will shut teams down.

But has Daisuke Matsuzaka learned enough since Game 3 to keep the Sox alive tonight deep into the ballgame?

I've heard a lot of people thinking Matsuzaka will join the parade of redemption that marched through Fenway last night (Drew's grand slam, Gagne's clean inning, Ellsbury taking Crisp's place in the lineup, Lugo's 2-RBI double). Some have predicted Matsuzaka will spin a seven-inning masterpiece, channeling the young Japanese prodigy that tossed 17 innings and 250 pitches of championship ball in high school.

I'd be happy with five solid innings and a lead, then Beckett for two, Okajima in the 8th, and Papelbon in the 9th.

Pennants are few and far between in the world of major league baseball. The Sox have one in their grasp. Either way, this Game 7 will be discussed for years and years to come. Hopefully it will be a sweet memory instead of a bitter one.