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Schilling bests Athletics in Ramirez's return

Sep 26, 2007 - 4:30 AM BOSTON (Ticker) -- It didn't quite follow the script of a star player making his triumphant return, but the Boston Red Sox are plenty happy getting Manny Ramirez some quality swings before the playoffs begin.

Ramirez had a hit in his first at-bat and scored a run and Curt Schilling won for the first time in five starts, leading the Red Sox to a 7-3 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday.

The win gives Boston (93-64) a three-game lead in the American League East over the New York Yankees (90-67), who lost a 7-6, 10-inning contest earlier in the evening against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. It also pulls them into a temporary virtual tie with the Cleveland Indians (92-63), who is in Seattle to face the Mariners, for the best record in baseball.

"We have been playing good," Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz said. "We had a tough road trip but we are still on top (of the division) and we have to keep it that way."

Ramirez, who along with Ortiz makes up one of the most feared lefthanded-righthanded combinations in the middle of the Red Sox order, took his usual spot in left field after missing nearly a month but was slotted as the No. 2 hitter for just the seventh time in his career.

"As we progress, we can get him into the middle of the order and spread our lineup out a little bit," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "Manny starts being that threat behind David - (and with) the way Mike Lowell has swung and then J.D. Drew gets hot - all of a sudden, our lineup can look very different."

Catcher Jason Varitek added a little levity to Ramirez's spot in the batting order.

"Manny in the two-hole, we have our two-hole hitter back," Varitek said.

The 11-time All-Star showed little rust in the first as he sent a 1-2 pitch into right field off Chad Gaudin (11-13) for a single before scoring two batters later on Mike Lowell's RBI double. Ramirez popped out to second in his next at-bat in the second and walked in the fifth before being replaced by pinch runner Brandon Moss on the basepaths.

Schilling (9-8) won for the first time since August 24 against the Chicago White Sox, going six frames and yielding just one run and six hits with six strikeouts. The outing continued the righthander's mastery of the A's this season, as he improved to 2-0 in three starts with a 1.23 ERA - his best marks against any opponent this season.

"I think he threw a lot of strikes, I thought he commanded his fastball which opened up some of his offspeed pitches," Francona said. "He gave us six good innings, I think more importantly, every time Schill throws we've been getting pretty much a consistent six (innings) from him. He located, he located in and then he located away, and he expands the plate."

"We mixed it up good tonight," Schilling said. "(We just continued) to improve with the new stuff, new game plan, new approach and get better at it. After the first inning, I thought we did a good job of executing."

Ortiz hit a two-run blast for the Red Sox, who won for the third time in their last four games.

Gaudin permitted three runs and three runs over four innings but walked a career-high seven batters to lose for the fourth time in his last five starts.

Rookie Daric Barton homered in his second straight game for Oakland, which lost for the seventh time in eight contests.