A TEAM "FIT TO BE TIED"
Trot Nixon puts the Red Sox ahead in Seattle

May 14, 2005 ... A grand slam by Trot Nixon, inserted in the No. 5 spot in the order, sandwiched between new cleanup hitter Manny Ramirez and Kevin Millar, lifted the Sox to a 6-3 win over the Seattle Mariners with his bases-clearing home run in the seventh off Seattle reliever J.J. Putz, the decisive blow in a five-run rally.

Nixon's sixth home run of the season, the Red Sox' American League leading fifth grand slam, made a winner of reliever Mike Myers, the former Mariner who replaced Sox starter Wade Miller after back-to-back home runs by Richie Sexson and Raul Ibanez had given the Mariners a 3-1 lead.

For all the alterations Francona made on his lineup card, the one that made the biggest difference to the Red Sox early last night was the addition of Miller's name. In his second start as a member of the team and first in road grays, Miller temporarily restored order to a pitching staff that had leaked a season-high 14 runs to the Mariners the night before. But the home runs by Sexson and Ibanez, coming with two outs and nobody on in the sixth, spoiled what had been a strong outing.

Miller, who made his Sox debut last Sunday in Fenway Park and held the Mariners to a couple of runs on three hits and a walk in five innings, was even stingier through five innings in his rematch with right-hander Ryan Franklin, who had come away with a win while Miller settled for a no-decision. He allowed just two hits and a run through five innings last night, but his efforts to go deeper into a game than he'd done in his Sox debut boomeranged. Miller, who threw 91 pitches in his first real test of his faulty right shoulder Sunday, gave up a home run to Sexson to straightaway center on his 97th pitch of the night, a 92-mile-an-hour fastball. His 100th pitch was deposited to right center-field by Ibanez.

Miller did not allow a runner until he walked the No. 9 hitter, Wilson Valdez, threw a wild pitch, and followed that with another base on balls to Ichiro Suzuki before retiring Randy Winn on a liner to left. He did not allow a hit until Beltre lined a single to open the fourth, and despite another wild pitch that advanced Beltre to second and a towering fly ball by Sexson that drove Ramirez back to the track and sent Beltre to third, appeared on the verge of escaping further damage when he punched out Ibanez on three pitches. But when Nixon was unable to glove Bret Boone's slicing, opposite- field drive to right, Nixon appearing to mistime his leap, Boone had a double and the Mariners a 1-0 lead.

Until Ramirez tied the score with his home run in the sixth, all those changes amounted to so much eyewash, to reprise a bit of Jimywocky, as the Sox could do little with Franklin. In some ways, the 32-year-old right-hander is a Northwest version of Bronson Arroyo, a career minor leaguer (nine seasons) who opened some eyes during the Sydney Olympics winning three games on a gold-medal winning US team then winning a spot in the Mariners' bullpen the following season, then emerging as a surprise member of the M's rotation. Seattle rewarded him after a breakthrough 2003 season (11-13, 3.57 ERA) with a two-year, $4.3 million deal. Franklin responded by stumbling to a 4-16 record last season, one in which he received the lowest run support (3.14 runs per nine innings) of any pitcher in the majors. He may have six pitches in his repertoire, but there wasn't anything he could throw that would put runs on the board.

Last night, Damon challenged him early, taking him through a 10- pitch at-bat leading off the game before bouncing to short. Ortiz drew a two-out walk, but Ramirez went down swinging to end the inning. Mueller drew a walk to open the third and two outs later took second when Renteria blooped a single to right, but Ortiz was caught looking at a third strike to end the inning.

The Sox threatened again in the fourth when Nixon walked with one out and Millar flared a broken-bat single to right, but Varitek flied deep to center and Mueller was called out on a full-count pitch that caught the outside corner.

Manny Ramirez, who flipped spots with David Ortiz for the first time this season, hit the 399th home run of his career, but just his second in the last 14 games, to account for the first Sox run. Ramirez now has 163 home runs in a Sox uniform, sending him past two great names of the past, Tony Conigliaro and Carlton Fisk, into 11th place on the all-time Sox homer list.

Johnny Damon's 18-game hitting streak came to an end when he went hitless in five at-bats. He reached base in the fifth on a three- hopper to third baseman Adrian Beltre that was ruled an error when he mishandled it.