July 21, 2003 ... The Sox inflicted a nasty whupping on his Tigers, the fiercest mauling in the Fens since Grady Little's marauders manhandled the Marlins, 25-8, last month. The Sox completed a 14-5 rout of the Tigers before 33,823 at Fenway Park.

Manny Ramirez led the bashing, falling a triple shy of the cycle as he drove in three runs and keyed a five-run rally in the second inning and a seven-run burst in the third. Todd Walker, emerging from his monthlong slump, also knocked in three runs, while Bill Mueller and Jeremy Giambi each drove in two. In fact, every Sox batter reached base at least once, even the late-inning subs. The thrashing provided a sense of relief to the Sox, who scored nine runs the night before after averaging only 3.4 over the previous five games.

The chief beneficiary was John Burkett, who improved to 8-4 after surrendering three runs over five innings as he continued to build a case for the Sox keeping him over another potential fourth or fifth starter they could acquire before the July 31 trading deadline. Of course, any pitcher would benefit from the run support the Sox provided Burkett in helping him improve to 3-0 this year against the Tigers, 6-0 in his career.

Casey Fossum took over for Burkett to start the sixth and went the rest of the way, allowing two runs and picking up the save by protecting the lead for at least three innings in the blowout.

Ramirez started the thunder by blasting a single off the Wall leading off the second. He scrambled to third on Millar's double before Trot Nixon walked to load the bases for Mueller, who smacked his 31st double, knocking in the first two runs of the game. Keeping Tigers starter Jeremy Bonderman on the ropes, Giambi followed with a two-run single, making it 4-0. And Walker doubled home Johnny Damon later in the inning to stake Burkett to a 5-0 advantage.

Showing his appreciation, Burkett quickly dispatched the Tigers in the third, sending the Sox back at the reeling rookie. And the offense unleashed another volley of fury, with Ramirez once again setting the tone by swatting the first pitch into the Monster seats for his 23d homer, and a 6-0 edge. Millar then rifled his second double of the game, chasing Bonderman, who gave way to knuckleballer Steve Sparks.

Timely move for the Tigers, but not too productive. The Sox scored six more times in the inning on two walks, a sacrifice fly by Jason Varitek, and four straight run-producing hits by Damon, Walker, Garciaparra, and Ramirez (his second of the inning).

The outburst ended with Ramirez getting thrown out trying to leg out a double. The slugger reflexively slammed his helmet in frustration but then flashed a smile, apparently after reminding himself that his blunder was no big deal, considering the score.

Manny Ramirez (4 for 4 with a homer, a double, and two singles) strung together four hits in a game for the third time this season. Sixteen of his 23 homers have come in the 42 games since May 31.

Nomar Garciaparra, who has hit in 35 of his last 36 home games, recorded his 629th career RBI, tying Duffy Lewis for 14th place on the team's all-time list.

Johnny Damon (2 for 6 with an RBI) scored twice as the Sox improved to 16-1 in games in which he has scored two or more runs. They are 34-13 when Damon scores at least once.

The Sox doubled nine times in the rout, their most doubles in a game since they banged out nine against the Indians April 14, 1993 at Fenway.  The Sox batted around in consecutive innings (the second and third) for the first time this season. Casey Fossum picked up his first save since May 29, 2001 in Toronto. It was the second of his career.