Royal Rooter: Boston Beat: Weekend of July 31

Shortly before the trade deadline on Thursday, Boston dealt future hall of famer and controversial left fielder Manny Ramirez to the Dodgers in a monumental trade. The Sox also sent prospects Brandon Moss and Craig Hansen to Pittsburgh, and received outfielder Jason Bay in return.

Ramirez and Bay have comparable numbers this season, but the Red Sox were basically desperate for a replacement who wouldn't be such a "cancer" to the team. In recent months, Ramirez has been flamed for faking injuries and dead grandmothers, and generally not playing with 100 percent effort. Management was afraid that if he were not pleased with his status (i.e. not re-signed for a multi-year, high contract deal) Ramirez may not give his all for the rest of the season.

In his Sox debut on Friday, newcomer Bay scored both runs, the second (a triple, which was driven in by Jed Lowrie's single) winning the game in the 12th inning.

The 2-1 victory of the Oakland A's broke the Sox three-game losing streak.

In his second game, Bay hit a 3-run home run in the first inning. Fans who were weary of the trade are now certified members of the "Bay state." The new left fielder is batting 4-for-11 with 1 home run and 3 RBI.

On Sunday, Bay went 2-for-4, scoring two runs and gunning down a runner at second from left field in a 5-2 victory over Oakland. The win completed a three-game sweep. Daisuke Matsuzaka rebounded from his last start, earning his 12th win, posting 8 strikeouts and only 2 walks. He improved to 4-1 with a 2.38 ERA in seven starts since June 27.

The bullpen, which has been one of the Sox' biggest problems, pitched three shutout innings; one each for Hideki Okajima, Manny Delcarmen, and Jonathan Papelbon, who recorded his 103rd career save.

The bullpen allowed just one run in 10 2/3 innings in the series (0.84 ERA) and lowered its ERA to 1.82 since July 20.

Shortstop was looking a little weak, but with Julio Lugo out with a strained left quadricep, 24-year-old Jed Lowrie is picking up the slack, posting 5 hits in his last 10 at-bats and 7 RBI. Downside is that once Lugo is healthy again, he's likely to get his spot back and resume putting up sub-par numbers; and he's got two years and $18 million remaining on his contract.

In Sunday's game Lowrie hit a two-run triple in the fourth, Coco Crisp posted two sacrifice flies, and Kevin Youkilis hit a first-inning RBI single that extended his hitting streak to 10 games. Youkilis has 40 multihit games of the season, and his 75 RBI are sixth most in the league.

Pre-Manny, The Sox had lost five of the last six home games at Fenway. Now that they've gained momentum, they're headed on the road with a newfound sense of confidence and unity in the clubhouse. They didn't lose any ground to Tampa Bay (three games behind) and are still ahead of the Yankees.

Those still weary of the Manny trade, think of the amount of money that the Sox will have to spend on the free agent market come this winter. Bay's $7.5 million salary will allow the Sox to improve the club in other areas, i'm looking at you, bullpen.

Without the one-two punch of Manny and Ortiz, the Sox will have to stop relying on offense to beat opponents, and start working on areas like pitching. Luckily, the Sox have two potential aces developing: Justin Masterson and Michael Bowden.

Luckily, the Red Sox have a concrete farm-system, which has groomed such talents as Jonathan Papelbon, Kevin Youkilis, Jacoby Ellsbury, Clay Buchholz, John Lester, and Dustin Pedroia.