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Ramirez, Ortiz lead charge as Red Sox avoid sweep

Jul 28, 2008 - 5:37 AM BOSTON (Ticker) -- Manny Ramirez started the day talking about leaving Boston and finished it by showing why he is likely staying put.

Ramirez doubled twice and drove in two runs and David Ortiz belted a two-run homer as the Boston Red Sox avoided a three-game sweep with a 9-2 victory over the New York Yankees on Sunday.

Jon Lester (9-3) threw seven strong innings for Boston, which moved within one-half game of the Tampa Bay Rays (61-43) in the American League East. The lefthander allowed two runs and nine hits with eight strikeouts and one walk, retiring the final nine hitters he faced.

Derek Jeter and Bobby Abreu each drove in a run for the Yankees, who had their eight-game winning streak snapped and fell 3 1/2 games back of Tampa.

Earlier Sunday, Ramirez made headlines by saying he would waive his no-trade clause if the Red Sox could make a deal, because he was "tired" of them and the team is tired of him.

"We will cross that bridge when we get there," said Boston third baseman Mike Lowell, who drove in a run with a single in the first. "Manny says a lot of things, some of them are entertaining, some of them make you roll your eyes and spin your head, but it seems every time he says something he goes 3-for-4 so maybe we should encourage him to say something like that. But it is a weird situation and I'm glad I'm not the one who has to make those decisions."

While Ramirez is tired of Boston, the Red Sox faithful - and brass - never get tired of seeing the feared slugger hit. His RBI double sparked the three-run first, and the Red Sox added single runs in the second and third before Ortiz blasted a two-run shot to right field in the fourth to make it 7-0

It was the first home run since May 31 for Ortiz, who returned on Friday after missing 45 games while recovering from a wrist injury.

"David looked like he felt good at the plate, that's a good feeling for us," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "Manny swung the bat great, that's what we need. That shouldn't be a surprise, that part of it, that's why we wanted him out there."

Staked to a huge lead, Lester threw 29 pitches while working out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth. The 24-year-old cancer survivor allowed three straight singles and an infield single to Jeter to start the frame. Lester then walked Abreu to force in a run, but retired Alex Rodriguez, newly acquired Xavier Nady and the red-hot Robinson Cano to end the threat. Cano entered hitting .514 (18-for-35) in the last eight games, but bounced out to Lester.

"After that A-Rod out, I was just one pitch away and I just kept telling myself that to get out of the inning," Lester said. "It's a tough inning, they battled, that's what the Yankees do."

"He did a good job, they did some good hitting in that one inning and had some balls fall and he did not let it get away from him and that was the biggest part of the game for him," Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek said of Lester.

Ortiz added a sacrifice fly in the sixth and Ramirez followed with an RBI single to left for the final margin.

The start of the game was delayed 52 minutes due to rain, but when it started the Red Sox came out swinging. Boston pounded Yankees starter Sidney Ponson (6-2) for seven runs and 10 hits in four innings. The burly righthander fell to 3-12 vs. Boston - the only team that has beaten him more is the Yankees.

"I think he just got a little too much of the plate, he got behind in some counts and got a little too much of the plate, he had a hard time getting that third out," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.