It was all he could do to contain his smile.

Jacoby Ellsbury, the 25-year-old jet who flies at the top of the Boston Red Sox lineup, had just stolen home with the bases loaded Sunday night.

The Fenway Park crowd was buzzing, the New York Yankees were reeling and Ellsbury was doing his best to keep a stoic face in the dugout.

He failed miserably. The crowd wanted the center fielder to take a bow, and he finally did as a grin broke out from ear to ear.

"What we have is a really fast player with some guts," Manager Terry Francona said after the game.

What we also have is a team that quickly has made April a month to remember.

After stumbling out of the gate – face it, when they were 2-6, you secretly wondered if this team just might never be a factor – the Red Sox completed a 9-0 homestand that ended with an exclamation point. Ellsbury's steal of home was the highlight of a win that completed a three-game sweep of the dreaded New York Yankees.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it was only the sixth time in franchise history the Red Sox went unbeaten in a homestand of nine or more games.

The team record is the 11-game run that ushered in Morgan Magic back in 1988.

The Red Sox outscored the Orioles, Twins and Yankees by a combined 66-30 margin and counting the April 15 win in Oakland, they went twice through the rotation without a loss.

The Sox are 10-2 at home this season, improving to an eye-popping 327-171 at Fenway since the start of the 2003 season.

The Red Sox won 56 games at home last year, second in the major leagues, but had a losing record on the road. It was enough to make it to the postseason, but Francona would like to win a few more away from Fenway this season.

Before opening a three-game set Monday night at Cleveland, the Sox had played two series on the road this season. They lost both, dropping 2 of 3 to both the Angels and Athletics. The team is hoping the recent run of road woes is an aberration.

It better be: Starting with Monday's game, Boston entered a stretch of 25 road games in 36 games.

"I don't want to get too carried away with what happened on the homestand," said Francona, "because when we were 2-6, the big thing we talk about is staying in the moment. I think that's the best way to have success, is not to think about last week."

That might be the best way to manage a ballclub, but fans won't soon forget about the homestand.

It was a 10-day stretch that illustrates how baseball – even early-season baseball – packs more unexpected twists and turns into a week than any sport.

There is nothing more unexpected than a steal of home with the bases loaded in a one-run game. It was a simple act of defiance against the once-mighty Yankees.

It was a moment that stole the hearts of baseball fans around New England.

Tom Caron is the studio host for Red Sox broadcasts on the New England Sports Network. His column appears in the Press Herald on Tuesdays.