, the Red Sox. A thrilling it was indeed to watch the heroes stumble to a ridiculously 8-7 victory over the Washington yesterday at Fenway Park. triumph moved the Red Sockers second place in the American , half a game out of first and and a half out of ninth.

formula for victory consisted of ingredients that have stood sox in good stead all season long: if not powerful hitting, slick ing, and sheer, blind, incredible After Boston pitchers had blown lead twice, Lu Clinton's two-out drove in Carroll Hardy with the run in the bottom of the h.

Wasington came up with 13 hits, all singles and doubles. Jim Pagliaroni's two safe- raised his average to .267; Eddie soud's two upped his mark to .340; Hardy, by going two-for-four, pushed to .290.

Second baseman Chuck Schilling was having his troubles at the plate earlier in the season, but his two hits yesterday raised his average to a respectable .140. Other current marks are Frank Malzone .295, Carl Yastrsemski .267, Gary Geiger .222, and Pete Runnels .220. Judging from past performances, Runnels can be expected to improve some 80 points, but the much-ballyhooed "Yaz" still looks like a lot of other .260 hitters.

True, the Sox committed two errors yesterday, but the fielders had it in the clutch, and, as is popularly stated, if you haven't got it there, you haven't got it. Schilling, for instance, pulled a rock in the middle innings, but came up with a great stab and throw on Willie Tasby in the tense ninth frame.

Unfortunately, the Red Sox have been weak in the pitching department, and, as Ty Cobb once remarked, if you haven't got it there, well, maybe you just don't have it. Take for example Mike Fornieles' relief stint yesterday: single, walk single, wild pitch, walk, and hit batsman (poor old Gene Woodling). Not bad for one afternoon.

Galen Cisco, the old Ohio State fullback, has pitched well for the Sox, however, and now stands 2-0. Gene Conley, the old Boston Celtics front-court man, is 2-1. And a huge slab of meat (6 ft., 6 in., 240 lbs.) named Dick Radatz has struck out 11 men in six innings of relief work.

Bressoud has been a welcome addition. The ex-Giant belabored the horsehide for a .211 average last year in the National League, so his current .340 clip the pitcher-poor A.L. is not surprising. Bressoud has fielded flawlessly at shortstop, and more than anyone else on the Sox, he looks like a ballplayer. Malzone, for instance, looks like a plumber.

What are the Sox' chances of maintaining their present lofty gait (7-5)? That's like asking what are the chances that a rhesus monkey, given a pack of Corrasable Bond and rubber stamps of the letters A and X, will turn out the 1962 edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica. But the Red Sox are high in the commodity known as spirit, and as Connie Mack used to say, if you haven't got it there, the prospects of your having it at all are remote at best.