Tyler O’Neill is second in the major leagues with nine home runs and drove in the winning run in the Boston’s 5-4 win over the Cubs on Sunday night in Boston. Michael Dwyer/Associated Press

Who are these guys?

It’s a line repeated time and again in the classic 1969 film, “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.” The movie features two Wild West outlaws who are trying to out-run a resilient posse after they robbed several trains.

A month into the Major League Baseball season, the Red Sox are starting to resemble a pursuing posse.

They’ve morphed into a relentless band of relatively unknown players who somehow keep finding ways to win.

Sunday night had all the makings of an epic collapse at Fenway. The Sox enjoyed a 4-0 lead over the Cubs. Sox starter Tanner Houck turned in a masterful performance on the mound, but was a spectator when Mike Tauchman belted a game-tying three-run homer in the eighth inning that brought Cubs fans to their feet.

Alas, those same Cub fans would exit Fenway with a tough loss. Tyler O’Neill’s bloop single — with an exit velocity of 63.4 mph — gave Boston its first walk-off victory of the season. The Sox took the best-of-three series and entered play Monday sitting third in the American League East at 16-13.

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It felt like old times at Fenway, with actor Patrick Dempsey and singer Noah Kahan on hand to take in the game. Dempsey, who has done so much to help his fellow Mainers through the Dempsey Center and Dempsey Challenge, bounced his first pitch after warming up on the sidelines.

“I don’t think I’ve been that nervous in a long time,” he told NESN. Dempsey wore a No. 27 Sox jersey, a nod to his childhood hero, Carlton Fisk.

The actor said he can still remember Fisk’s 1975 World Series homer like it was yesterday.

Hard to believe it’s been nearly 50 years since that epic Fall Classic between the Sox and the Reds. It’s also hard to believe the Sox are chugging along today with a lineup featuring Pablo Reyes (who was cut by the Red Sox on Monday), Bobby Dalbec and Enmanuel Valdez.

It’s not a surprise that the Sox, who’ve been decimated by injuries to key players, have struck out more than every MLB team but one this season. But it’s stunning that Boston entered Monday having hit the third most homers in the American League, just one fewer than the New York Yankees.

O’Neill is a big part of that. His nine homers this season trails only Mike Trout. During Sunday night’s game O’Neill told ESPN that he would take part in the Home Run Derby if invited. A Boston hitter hasn’t won that event since David Ortiz in 2010.

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Big Papi isn’t walking through that door anytime soon. But Vaughn Grissom is. The second baseman, acquired from Atlanta for Chris Sale this winter, was injured in the first week of spring training and has yet to play an inning for the big league club. He warmed up with a four-hit game Sunday with the Triple A WooSox. He should return to the lineup soon.

Of course, it’s the pitching, not the offense, that has led the way. The Sox have the lowest ERA in baseball despite four key hurlers out with injuries. Nick Pivetta is the closest to returning. He will make a rehab start in the minors as soon as this week.

Alex Cora, managing in the final year of his contract, has somehow kept this team together through the adversity. It won’t get any easier, but the team is beginning to believe in itself.

Who are those guys, you ask?

They’re the Boston Red Sox, the most surprising team in baseball.

Tom Caron is a studio host for the Red Sox broadcast on NESN.


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