Dynamic duo struck again and again

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Before this place was redesigned with the Disney rocks in center field and renamed the formal-sounding Angel Stadium of Anaheim, it was a combination baseball/football edifice.

To make the "Big A" more presentable for big games, a tarp would sometimes cover the extra football seats in center field. It was that way in 1989 when Bo Jackson hit one of the more famous shots in All-Star Game history, a 448-footer off Rick Reuschel.

Yesterday, Manny Ramírez hit a rocket to center field that had many in these parts harkening back to Jackson's shot. For the record, Ramírez's homer that bounced around the deco rocks was measured at 475 feet.

And because the blast came seven pitches after David Ortiz had put one over the 385-foot sign in right field and turned what had been a scoreless game into a 2-0 lead over the Angels in the fourth inning, it has a little more importance in the big picture.

"I don't put a lot of stock into how far a ball goes, just as long as it goes out or we score a run," Sox manager Terry Francona said after the game, a 9-1 win that gave the Sox a sweep of the Angels and a spot in the American League Championship Series that begins Friday in Boston. "Just as long as we get a run."

Until that point, it had the makings of one of those games for the Sox, who went down in order in the first and third and didn't score in the second after a leadoff walk and double gave them two on with none out. But with Ortiz and Ramírez together in the lineup, things can change pretty quickly.

"You saw today. We had second and third, didn't score," Francona said. "Come back, nobody on. All of a sudden we got those two runs back. David and Manny take beautiful swings. And it gives us the cushion."

"They are as good a 1-2 punch as there is in baseball," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "I think some of the mistakes that Jered [Weaver] made, and there weren't many today, but he made a couple in that inning. To Ortiz, he didn't get the fastball quite in the zone he wanted to. And with Manny, he left a breaking ball up in the zone and Manny didn't miss it."

For Ramírez, it was his second consecutive game with a homer, following his walkoff three-run shot Friday night at Fenway (that measured 447 feet, by the way.) After a season in which he only played six games after Aug. 28 because of a strain in his oblique and one that wasn't up to his normal standards anyway (his 20 homers were his fewest since 1994 with Cleveland), Ramírez is showing signs of being back in form.

"I talked to Manny multiple times this year and he was very adamant that he never felt good. He never felt right," Sox starter Curt Schilling said. "He never felt like he was in the groove. He never was comfortable with his swing. But he probably worked and spent more time [working] than anybody on the team. I would be surprised if he wasn't in a little better place now. He looks very confident at the plate."

That Ramírez and Ortiz appear to be back in their normal form can only help the Red Sox in the ALCS.

"They make every batter in our lineup better," Francona said. "It helps those in front of them and those behind them."

"I think with myself, J.D. [Drew], and Tek [Jason Varitek] down the line, we have to put it together because we don't want David and Manny getting four easy ones [balls] and pitching to someone else," said Mike Lowell, who follows the pair in the order and had a career-best 120 RBIs this season. "I think the fact we can put together professional at-bats one after another speaks a lot of what our team is capable of doing."

For Ramírez, it was his 22d career postseason homer. He is tied with Bernie Williams for the most all time. For Ortiz, it was his 10th homer in the postseason for the Red Sox, moving him past Varitek for the club record. Ramírez isn't far behind with nine as a Red Sox; his other 13 came with the Indians.

It was the fourth time a Red Sox pair had back-to-back homers in the postseason and the second time for Ortiz and Ramírez. They last did it in Game 3 of the 2005 Division Series against the White Sox, who swept Boston that year. This time, the combo has the Sox feeling a little better about themselves.

"Everything went our way pretty good," Ortiz said. "If we keep playing this way, we are going to have some big games in the next few series."

"Those are our two big bats," Coco Crisp said. "Papi said he was going to hit one today and he did. Then Manny came through with a moon rocket into the wind."