A month ago, most Red Sox fans had accepted reality.

The season was slipping away. Injuries were piling up. The trade deadline looked like it would be about selling pieces and preparing for next year. The support group meetings were full, and for once, we all seemed to agree on where this season was headed.

Then the Red Sox did what they always seem to do.

They gave us hope.

After sweeping the White Sox, Boston has won six straight games and climbed to 43-48. A team that looked buried is suddenly just 2.5 games out of the final Wild Card spot. They've done it despite missing Roman Anthony, Trevor Story, Garrett Crochet and several other key contributors. On paper, this roster shouldn't be doing this. Yet somehow, they keep finding ways to win.

That's what makes being a Red Sox fan so exhausting.

Just when you've accepted that it's time to look toward to next season, they reel you back in. Suddenly we're checking the standings again. We're looking at the schedule. We're calculating how many games they need before the trade deadline. Dangerous optimism has officially returned.

Now Red Sox Nation is divided.

Some fans believe this is the perfect time to buy and make a legitimate push for October. Others see this as a hot streak that shouldn't change the organization's long term plan. Both arguments have merit, and that's what makes the next few weeks so fascinating.

If Boston is still within striking distance of a playoff spot as the deadline approaches, I believe they owe it to the clubhouse and the fan base to improve the roster. That doesn't necessarily mean sacrificing the future. It may require buying and selling at the same time to strengthen this year's team while protecting the organization's long term outlook.

The biggest question isn't whether the Red Sox should make a move.

It's whether Craig Breslow can make the right one.

Whatever happens over the next few weeks, the Red Sox have already accomplished something none of us expected a month ago.

They've made believers out of some of us

and dangerously optimistic for the rest of us.