April 16, 2005 ... Manny Ramirez knocked in all six Sox runs on two home runs, Nos. 1 and 2 of his season in a 6-2 win over Tampa Bay. In four plate appearances he walked, homered twice, and flied out. All in a day's work.

Ramirez had never gone this long to begin a campaign without going deep. To night was game No. 11 for the Red Sox. The closest he'd come to this was 2003, when he hit homer No. 1 in game No. 9 (his 36th at-bat).  Ramirez launched No. 1 in his 39th at-bat of the season, a two-run shot that cleared the Monster seats in the third. He then came up the next inning with the bases loaded.

Ramirez, on an 0-and-1 slider, cranked a grand slam off the base of the light tower below the Coke bottles, helping to move the Sox (6-5) above .500 for the first time this season. It was Ramirez's 18th career grand slam, most among active players. The homer tied him for third on the all-time grand slam list with Willie McCovey and Robin Ventura, behind only Eddie Murray (19) and Lou Gehrig (23). It was Ramirez's 40th career multi-homer game (38 two-homer games, two three-homer games).

That was plenty for Matt Clement, the $25.5 million off-season acquisition, who walked just two and struck out six in his Fenway debut before 35,106 on a 46-degree night. Clement, who worked seven innings, threw 108 pitches, matching his pitch count in his most recent outing, Sunday in Toronto. But this time he threw 74 strikes, compared with the 59 he threw against the Blue Jays. Before last night, he'd thrown only 55 percent of his pitches this season (110 of 199) for strikes. Clement set the tone early, striking out the second and fourth hitters of the game, Julio Lugo and Aubrey Huff, each on three pitches, each with a slider to end the at-bat. He then got Josh Phelps looking in the third at a cutter away.

The last two nights provided the first wins for Clement and David Wells in their Red Sox careers in games the Sox won by a collective 16-2. Wells and Clement, in six starts, are a combined 2- 2 with a 4.11 ERA in 35 innings. They've combined to strike out 27 and walk 11.

The Sox gave Clement all of the support he'd need in two innings, the third and fourth. Johnny Damon singled to lead off the third, reached second on an errant pickoff attempt by starter Dewon Brazelton, then scampered to third base on a wild pitch. Damon scored on Ramirez's two-run homer off an 89-mile-per-hour Brazelton fastball. Brazelton then put himself in the jam in the fourth that culminated in Ramirez's grand slam. The right-hander, who threw 91 pitches, just 43 for strikes, began the inning with nine straight balls, walking Bill Mueller and Mark Bellhorn. Trot Nixon hit a ball off the end of his bat that Brazelton backed off of, as did third baseman Alex Gonzalez, loading the bases.

Ramirez, who began the night hitting .211 with four RBIs on the season, then roped an 81-m.p.h. slider into the light tower lattice in left for a 6-1 lead. In the 10 games to begin the season, he had just two extra-base hits, both doubles. His six RBIs were the most by a Sox player since Nixon drove in six at Philadelphia Sept. 1, 2003.

Ramirez actually began last season somewhat slowly in the home run department. He needed 24 at-bats before launching his first homer in 2004, then led the league with 43. He hit just five last April, then nine in May, six in June, seven in July, nine in August, and seven in September.

The Sox kept Tampa Bay off the scoreboard in the first inning last night. They remain the only team in the majors yet to allow a first-inning run this season. Tampa Bay's Alex Sanchez, the first player suspended under Major League Baseball's new steroid policy, tripled in the first inning in his second game since being reinstated.