Damon finds hitting groove

NEW YORK -- During the Red Sox' first-round series against the Angels, Anaheim manager Mike Scioscia went so far as to compare Johnny Damon to Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki as one of the league's best leadoff hitters. "He does so much for that team," said Scioscia.

But the Damon who had been such a big part of the Sox' success this season, including their sweep of Scioscia's Angels, wasn't the one who had been batting leadoff against the Yankees in the American League Championship Series. He had just three hits in his first 29 at-bats and had only drawn three walks.

Without that spark, the Sox had struggled as they fell into a 3-0 hole. The team had climbed back to force last night's Game 7, but Damon was still struggling.

But when he opened the game with a single to left, it seemed to be a sign that good things could be in the offing. Damon stole second, and although he got thrown out at home trying to score on a single by Manny Ramirez, he was back to being part of the offense.

By the time he came to the plate in the second inning, the Sox were leading, 2-0, and had the bases loaded with one out. Yankees manager Joe Torre had seen enough of starter Kevin Brown and brought in Javier Vazquez, the other big-name Yankee pitching signee of the offseason.

Damon sent the first pitch from Vazquez into the right-field stands for a grand slam. The Sox led, 6-0, and Damon officially was back. After the Yankees gave a slight indication of a pulse by scoring a run in the third, Damon responded with another homer, this one a two-run shot to the upper deck in right, to put the lead up to 8-1.

"Johnny has been such a big part of this offense all season long," general manager Theo Epstein said. "The way he and Mark Bellhorn got us going all season was the reason we made it this far.

"It was very uncharacteristic of them to be playing the way they were in this series."

Bellhorn, who had been moved down to ninth in the lineup after his struggles, broke out with a three-run homer in Game 6. (He added a solo shot last night.) In the clincher, it was Damon's turn to break out. His grand slam was only the second ever in a Game 7. Bill "Moose" Skowron of the Yankees hit the other in the 1956 World Series win over Milwaukee.

"It was so good to see Johnny do that," Sox catcher Jason Varitek said. "He's the guy who gets us going. We knew he'd be all right."

"I don't care if Johnny is 0 for 30 or 0 for 50," said David Ortiz. "Everybody knows what kind of hitter Johnny is and everybody knows that Johnny's going to step in one of those games and do what he did tonight."

Said manager Terry Francona, "As Johnny goes, we go."

"That was more characteristic of what we've seen of Johnny," said Epstein, who was drinking beer in the clubhouse but vowed to switch to champagne if the Sox win the World Series.

"That's what we need."