Ramirez isn't just swinging singles

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The Red Sox clubhouse was a grump-free zone yesterday afternoon. Pedro Martinez, unencumbered by clothing, did a lap around the clubhouse, waving his underwear aloft and shouting, "Rally time, rally time." Kevin Millar walked in sporting a brand-new white Stetson that moments later was being modeled by hitting coach Ron Jackson, Cowboy Up riffing into Blazing Saddles.

It was difficult to imagine anything going awry in the Sox universe, especially on a night that Curt Schilling was pitching, Manny Ramirez was hitting, and the woeful Devil Rays were on the other side.

These days, of course, when isn't Ramirez hitting? Whatever limitations a sore groin has placed on Ramirez's ability to play left field -- he served as designated hitter last night for a fourth straight game -- have not been apparent when he is at the plate. Ramirez hit a two-run home run and a single last night, giving him five hits in two games here and raising his average to .368. Pending the results of other precincts, Ramirez's average is eclipsed by only one player in the major leagues, Melvin Mora of the Orioles, who is hitting .383.

"He amazes me on a daily basis," said Schilling, for whom Ramirez's home run was the difference-maker in last night's 4-1 win. "As far as average and power, he's the best I've ever been around.

"There's not a lot of guys I like to watch hit. He's one of them."

Ramirez just missed a home run in the first inning, when he drove a changeup from Devil Rays starter Rob Bell, just up from the minors, to the track in center field. In the third inning, two pitches after Bell threw a pitch over Ramirez's head to the base of the backstop, Bell elected to try the same changeup. This time, Ramirez added enough yardage to clear the center-field wall.

"I don't think there are any Manny Ramirezes in Durham," Devil Rays manager Lou Piniella said dryly, invoking Bell's last port of call.

As a hitter and as a character, Ramirez clearly inhabits one-of-a-kind territory. He has reached base safely in his last 17 games, is hitting .396 (21 for 53) in his last 17 games, and has 18 multi-hit games, tops on the team. His home run was his ninth of the season, one fewer than David Ortiz, who leads the team with 10, and was the 356th of his career, just two behind Yogi Berra. And who ever imagined that Ramirez might one day challenge Yogi as a good quote, too?

Ramirez, as he is wont to do when asked about his own feats, played it straight yesterday. "Nothing, I didn't think nothing," he said of Bell's wild fling. "I just was trying to keep the same approach."

He expressed eagerness to return to left field, which he expects to do tomorrow, when the Sox return home to play the Blue Jays.

"It's hard," he said of DHing, "when you get used to playing every day in the outfield. When I'm DH, I'm not in the same groove."