The Morning After: Yes! Finally, a division title. And Marisa Miller

Remember a couple of days ago, when we wrote about how sometimes the best help a team can get comes from an enemy? Well, last night it just came from a different enemy, one you usually can’t count on getting help from.

Paps was in the spirit last night. Sox fans will just hope he gets back in the spirit what, three more times?

That’s right. Thank you Baltimore.

With the Orioles furious comeback and dramatic 10th inning victory over the Yankees, the Red Sox sealed their first AL East title in 12 years. This on the heels of the best Dice-K outing in a couple of weeks - a win which the Dice-man will be able to stew over and gain confidence from for a full week - and suddenly life is rosy again. Like spending a night with Marisa Miller. Sure, she’s a surfer from California, which might not seem like the best karma heading into a series against a team once called the California Angels. But who cares. Boston is the AL East champion, and Marisa Miller’s about as hot as you can get.

That’s right. It’s a celebration bitches.

And why shouldn’t it be? Sure, there were rough moments the past month. Or two. And there’s been plenty of hystrionics as a result, many of which Terry Francona and co. probably didn’t fully deserve (some of them they did).

But in the end, it’s all turned out about as well as it could have in the regular season. The Sox have a bona fide Cy Young candidate, and it’s not the one almost anyone would have thought it would be, with the notable exception of the Globe’s Gordon Edes, of couse. Dasiuke Matsuzaka has 15 wins, despite a late-season slump and at least three, if not four, games in which he should have earned a win if his team had shown up with any bats at all. Curt Schilling has looked better in his last three starts than in the rest of the season - near no-hitter not included - and despite concern about Hideki Okajima, even Eric Gagne looked strong the last couple of times out. If you can overlook the sudden loss of Clay Buchholz, who had the potential to make a serious impact as a rookie, there’s little to be upset about at the moment.

And then there’s all to be happy about. An AL East title. A 50 percent shot of the best record in the bigs headed into the playoffs. A chance to line up the rotation perfectly, while also resting Big Papi, who blasted another bomb last night, Manny and the rest of the regulars.

Mmmmm. Marisa Miller. That’s a celebration worth winning, huh?

All of that is secondary to last night’s champagne room, of course, a celebration worthy of Ms. Miller herself. Red Sox fans will be hoping to see more of her, of course, but it’s nice to see an initial appearance before the end of the regular season for a chance, isn’t it?

– Cameron Smith