This combination is tough to crack

At this rate, Manny Ramírez and David Ortiz both will be assigned their little green patch of turf, their bust of bronze, in Cooperstown. Perhaps they'll be enshrined in the Hall of Fame together, same sunny afternoon, one after the other, Ortiz of course being called to the podium first, not out of deference to alphabetical order but simply out of respect for the occupational order of things, their standard alignment in the Hub's hardball universe.

Ortiz, hitting in the No. 3 hole, tugging snug his batting gloves, smacking his big-man hands together in one meaty thunderclap before assuming his stance from the left side. Followed by Ramírez, calm but ever raptor-like in his hitting calculations from the right side, looping his bat in that familiar loosey-goosey pump as the pitcher stares into an abyss of near certain failure.

Their order of things in the Boston sports psyche is now as familiar, as expected, as the chill and rain that come to the Back Bay every October. Just as the Red Sox would not be the same without Ortiz hitting third and Ramírez cleanup, all New England would wonder what was up if sweater weather weren't part of our baseball experience this time of year.

"Yeah, they are unique, because they're superstars," said third baseman Mike Lowell late yesterday morning, just before the Sox took to Fenway's green lawn for their last tuneup prior to the American League Championship Series opener tonight against the Indians. "Each of them can beat you with one swing of the bat. Now, do they feed off of each other? I don't know . . . but I do know that if one gets hot, the other doesn't want to be far behind."

The Red Sox are fresh off a three-game sweep of the Angels in the AL Division Series, and Ortiz and Ramírez are beyond hot. They have reached a near surreal sizzle reminiscent of October 2004.

Ortiz went 5 for 7 (a gaudy .714) with a pair of homers and three RBIs. Ramírez, who ended Game 2 with his Herculean bomb over the Coke bottles off Francisco Rodriguez, went 3 for 8 (.375) with two homers and four RBIs. They also combined for 11 walks, four more than the entire Los Angeles roster cobbled from Boston pitching, which contributed to Ortiz's .846 on-base percentage and Ramírez's .615.

Pencil them in the lineup 3-4, stand back, and before someone can scream, "Fire in the hole!" the hits and runs blow forth.

"I think when they're both healthy, it certainly means a lot," said manager Terry Francona.

That, of course, wasn't always true this year. Ortiz, 31, who hit .332 in the regular season, wobbled a bit at times (not to be detected in his steady numbers) and eventually disclosed that he will need offseason surgery to repair knee cartilage. Ramírez, 35, in late August moved to the sidelines for just under a month, a bothersome oblique muscle forcing him to surrender bat and glove. He finished with a .296 average, 20 homers, and 88 RBIs, anemic readings by his career standards.

"I don't think he was happy with his numbers," said Lowell, reflecting on Ramírez's recent comments, the slugger saying he didn't feel "right" at the plate all season. "That's because it has seemed like he's just rolled out of bed and hit 30 [homers] and 100 [RBIs] every season. But I can tell you, it's a much better feeling when you see him driving the ball and hitting it out of the park."

Just as time heals all wounds, including wonky knees and gnarly obliques, long balls cure many ills. Earl Weaver lived and managed by that axiom in his glory days with the Orioles, and Francona has both lived and loved the same truth from his dugout.

"Obviously, the better more guys are swinging, the more dangerous your lineup becomes," he said. "Even sometimes, if guys make outs but pitchers have to work, that can even lead to runs later - maybe getting the starter out of the game, maybe even getting to the bullpen before the other team wants to get there. A lot of good things can happen from guys that are dangerous."

After launching the Game 2 winner, a comet-like tail seeming to trail the ball, an animated Ramírez noted that being able to produce when not feeling right let a pitcher "know you are a bad man."

Now it's up to Cleveland pitchers, beginning tonight with C.C. Sabathia, to figure out how to navigate through the badlands of Boston's 3-4 hitters.

"I'll tell you, it would be tough right now, the way those guys are hitting, swinging the bat," said Sox ace Josh Beckett. "J.D. [Drew] and Mike Lowell are swinging the bat really good, too. So it's not like you can just walk those two guys and breeze through the rest of the lineup."

Jason Varitek, who'll be calling the pitches for Beckett in Game 1, also noted the daunting task of plotting a pitching plan around Ortiz-Ramírez.

"You have them back to back, so that's a tough question," he said. "You also have Mikey Lowell to worry about. That's the advantage of having lineups rather than just two people you have to pitch to. But I'm certainly not going to divulge how I'd attack them - but that's just personal opinion."

Round 2 begins hours from now. Ortiz and Ramírez, the two Dominican-born brothers of bash, will be back in their familiar spots. Hitting one after the other. Left and right. Deep and deeper. Their final hits one day rolling to a stop in a small New York hamlet some 240 miles due west of Kenmore Square.

Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at dupont@globe.com.