Thirty-six games and, well, we're starting to get that giddy feeling.

The Red Sox really might not only do this, but do it in a way we've seen the Patriots win so often - with precision, guts and incredible flair.

Your Red Sox are officially the best team in baseball at 25-11. And while they've been hot in the months of April and May before (see 2006), this one sure feels different.

They seem to have all of the bases covered. They can pitch. They can run. They hit. And they can field.

Better yet, they seem to really like each other.

Winning has a way of making chopped liver look a lot like prime rib, but I don't think anybody in baseball would disagree about these Red Sox. Right now, they are better than good.

Here's 10 reasons and/or examples of why yesterday's miraculous comeback may be a microcosm of things to come:

1. Speed kills.

If anybody is wondering why a leadoff hitter like Julio Lugo is more valuable at the top of the lineup than a Kevin Youkilis, the last play of yesterday's game was a perfect example.

Lugo's legs made the Orioles botch what should have been a routine, bang-bang play at first to end the game. As soon as that ball was hit, you could sense trouble in the Orioles dugout.

2. They don't quit.

We've seen this before around Fenway Park in the last half dozen or so years. The team has been called resilient for a few years now, and yesterday it was well deserved.

The next time the Red Sox trail by three, four or five runs, don't think for a second that the opposing team believes it's over. These kinds of wins are fuel for future motivational speeches. They just don't quit.

3. Jason Varitek isn't dead yet.

We counted this guy out - or at least his bat - but he is going nowhere. His average is now over .270, which is about 50 points higher than the majority of New Englanders expected.

He is the heart and soul of this franchise. And when your heart and soul wears the "C," is also the hardest worker and can still play to near-All-Star form, the team is probably the best in baseball.

4. Sox bullpen is better than first thought.

Another sore subject in February and March, but right now, the bullpen crew is as strong as any area on the team.

The addition of J.C. Romero, who has become an important cog along with Jonathan Papelbon, Hideki Okajima, Kyle Snyder and Brendan Donnelly, has allowed the starting staff a little leeway in terms of innings pitched.

All five of the aforementioned relievers have an ERA under 3.00. Talk about the 10th Men Award.

5. The Yankees lost.

I realize it's only May 14, but the Red Sox are now eight games ahead of the Yankees, who are 17-19, losing again yesterday to the Mariners, 2-1.

It's not over, but these Red Sox are going to be hard to slow down. The Sox have the best starting rotation in baseball with a very good bullpen and a very good lineup.

I can't explain it, but when the Yankees lose while the Red Sox are winning, it feels like an instant holiday.

6. World Series teams win games like this.

Luck? I don't think so.

True, the Orioles are as average as average can be (18-20), but they are getting paid, too.

It seems every champion has three or four games like this that weren't supposed to happen. It becomes as much as a strength for the Red Sox, believing they are never out of a game, as a weakness with the opposition, who wonders when David Ortiz is going to hit a walkoff homer.

7. Playing the entire roster.

Did you notice who scored the winning run yesterday? Eric Hinske.

Did you notice who is among the hottest players on the team despite playing in less than half of the Red Sox' games? Alex Cora.

Did you notice who had a pinch-hit single in the ninth inning? Wily Mo Pena.

Red Sox manager Terry Francona is using every player almost every day.

Trust me, that means a lot to "utility" guys who realize they must come to the park every day ready to play.

8. Josh Beckett's out, but so what?

Beckett has been great, probably the best pitcher in baseball thus far, but the Red Sox are bigger than one MVP right now. The length of Beckett's recovery from his finger injury (torn flap of skin on his middle finger) is unknown, but the Sox have a few guys ready, like Snyder, to eat up innings and give the Red Sox a chance to win.

A week or two without Beckett is not the dilemma it would be, say, last year. As of now, in this we-don't-need-Clemens era, the Sox have depth in pitching they haven't had in years, maybe even decades.

9. Julio Lugo and J.D. Drew are officially family.

Welcome to the family, Julio. And you too, J.D.

Yes, these guys are probably overpaid, maybe vastly so, but they are professionals. Both are still feeling their way around the clubhouse as well as the city, but both came through in underrated ways yesterday.

Drew's walk in the ninth loaded the bases and brought the tying run to the plate.

And Lugo's speed and hustle forced the Orioles to blow a play they should have made. Both were in the middle of the celebration.

10. Mother's Day.

While the majority of dads probably threw in the towel, this was for all of the moms out there who cared enough to keep the TV set on despite nearly three hours of boredom.

It's always special when the Red Sox win. It's always special when the Yankees lose. And yesterday, for it all to happen on one of our great holidays, Mother's Day, is probably no coincidence.

Bill Burt is executive sports editor of Eagle-Tribune Publishing. E-mail him at bburt@eagletribune.com.