Manny and Youkilis Return, Boston Wins

Manny Ramirez, back from a strained left side muscle, singled in his first at-bat after missing 24 games, pumping up the home crowd who has watched their team drop six of their last nine games.

Kevin Youkilis returned from a seven-game absence, recovering from a bruised right wrist he suffered when hit by Chien-Ming Wang pitch.

And Curt Schilling, who hadn't won for more than a month, earned the victory as the Boston Red Sox beat the Oakland Athletics 7-3 Tuesday night. The veteran allowed just one run on six hits over six innings with no walks and six strikeouts.

Less than an hour later, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays rallied to beat the New York Yankees 7-6 in extras, lowering Boston's magic number to three to win the AL East for the first time in 12 years.

The win pushed the Red Sox lead to three games over the Yanks with five games remaining for both teams.

[The Patriot Ledger]