''This," Detroit manager Alan Trammell noted before last night's game, ''is arguably the toughest place to play in baseball right now."
Anyone unconvinced? At 39-18, the Sox own baseball's best home record, and that bodes well, with 24 of the closing 36 games in the Fens. The club last night began its longest homestand since 1994, a 14-game, five-team stay, with its 14th consecutive home win. That marks the fourth-best run in club history. Next up: the 15-game tear by the 1950 Sox.
The Sox, who averaged 4.8 runs during the recently completed 4-6 road swing, clearly savored returning to Fenway. In these 14 home wins the club's wanton offense has accounted for 8.4 runs per game.
They scored in bunches last night -- scoring twice in the third (turning a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 lead), twice in the fifth (turning a 5-3 disadvantage into a 5-5 tie), and four times in the sixth (building a 9-5 lead).
''We started off sluggish," said Trot Nixon, who knocked in a run in the third and another in the fifth. ''But we fed off our fans."
The Sox, who have batted around 32 times in 126 games, didn't send nine men to the plate in any inning last night, but they did send eight to bat in both the third and sixth innings.
Doug Mirabelli led off the third with a double to right. Alex Cora singled, sending Mirabelli to third, and Johnny Damon delivered a sacrifice fly, scoring Mirabelli. Graffanino then singled and David Ortiz walked on five pitches, loading the bases.
Tigers starter Jason Johnson, who had been tagged at a .400 clip in 40 previous showdowns with Manny Ramirez, then wanted no part of the majors' RBI leader. He walked Ramirez on five pitches, forcing in a run, and Nixon delivered a sac fly for a 3-1 lead.
In the sixth, the Sox plated four more, beginning with a Damon strikeout on a Johnson wild pitch that allowed the runner on third, Bill Mueller, to score, and Damon to reach.
''Smart hitting," cracked Sox manager Terry Francona.
Graffanino followed with an RBI single, and two batters later Ramirez yanked a two-run double down the line in left, lifting his RBI total to 115, his season pace to 149, and the Sox to a 9-5 lead.
