Boston, led by the offensive heroics of red-hot Manny Ramirez, polishes off the Philadelphia Phillies to conclude an impressive 6-0 road trip.

01:00 AM EDT on Monday, June 27, 2005

BY STEVEN KRASNER
Journal Sports Writer

PHILADELPHIA -- As road trips go, they don't get much better than the one the Boston Red Sox finished off with a bang yesterday at Citizens Bank Park.

Boston blew a seven-run, fifth-inning bulge before snapping a tie with four runs in the eighth in a span of eight pitches, completing a spotless road swing by demoralizing the Phillies, 12-8, on yet another steamy afternoon.

The result gave the Red Sox a 6-0 record on the journey, featuring three-game sweeps of Cleveland and Philadelphia. It was the team's first perfect road trip of six games or more since July 29-Aug. 7, 1977, when Boston went 9-0 in games in Anaheim, Seattle and Oakland.

Even more importantly, when the Sox left Fenway Park a week ago, they were in second place, three games behind Baltimore in the American League East. When they left for home last night, the Sox, who now have won 12 of their last 13 games and seven in a row overall on the road, were firmly entrenched in first place, 2 1/2

games up on the Orioles.

Manager Terry Francona tries to stay in the moment, but even he acknowledged a measure of satisfaction these last six games brought the team.

"Obviously it's a good trip," said Francona. "Other teams lose, we win. I watch the scoreboard, too. That's great. But if we do what we're supposed to, regardless of what the other teams do, we feel confident. That's what you want to do, grind it out and hope the other teams falter."

There were plenty of ups and downs yesterday for both teams. The Sox enjoyed an 8-1 advantage in the fifth, thanks in part to Manny Ramirez's eighth homer in his last 12 games, a grand slam that semingly surprised even the Boston slugger as it sailed out of this hitter-friendly ballpark and into the first row of seats in right.

But David Wells gave four runs back in the fifth, two on a two-out homer by Pat Burell one pitch after the left-hander moaned about a strike-three call he didn't get on the Phillies' left fielder. That was the final inning for Wells, succumbing to heat and a flare-up of his plantar fascitis in his right foot.

The bullpen duo of Alan Embree and Mike Timlin were scraped for the tying runs in the seventh, giving the Phillies' fans a chance to cheer, which was a nice change from their weekend-long boo-fest with the hometown heroes.

The Sox, though, seemingly welcomed the challenge. And in an eye-blink against ex-Red Sox and CCRI left-hander Rheal Cormier, they erupted for four runs in the eighth and a 12-8 lead.

Johnny Damon bunted Cormier's first pitch toward first and beat it out. Mark Bellhorn (3 for 4) crushed Cormier's second pitch for a tie-breaking double off the center-field fence. David Ortiz reached first on a first-pitch broken-bat roller toward second, with second baseman Chase Utley playing shallow right on the Phillies' shift. Ramirez then hit the first pitch he saw to center for a sacrifice fly.

Four pitches, two runs.

And the Sox kept on swinging. Swinging at the first pitch he saw, Trot Nixon hustled to beat the back end of a potential inning-ending double-play. And on the third pitch he saw, Jason Varitek laced a two-run homer just over the left-field fence.

But then, that's the personality of this team.

"They'll never panic," said Francona of his Red Sox. "They've been through so much (the last season-plus). I would rather it be 8-1, but the game's not over (at 8-8). We had the lead, they came back with a rush, and we always play until the game's over."

Not surprisingly, it was the Sox' catalyst, Damon, who got things started. The Sox' center fielder has a strained right rotator cuff, whichy clearly has been bothering him. But he has been playing through it.

"He has great game awareness," said Francona. "He's kind of scuffling to put good swings on the ball. He knows that. But he made a beautiful bunt. He finds a way to get it done. There were so many things we did that inning. David Ortiz isn't going to get many infield hits, but he knew he had to run hard. Trot beating the double play. We did some things all-out to win."

The Sox' surge has featured team-wide contributions.

"It started out with pitching, and when we got pitching, that allowed the offense to have some confidence and to get going," said Varitek. "When that happens, you have the confidence to come back in games. We had a lot of good things come out of this one."

"This was a crazy day," added Wells. "They tie it up and we come right back and score four runs. That's how these guys are. This is a fun team to watch if you are a Red Sox, but not for the opposition. Our offense has been tremendous."

Suddenly, the Red Sox look like a good road team. The seven straight wins have improved their road mark to 22-20. On this six-game journey, Boston batted .325 (75 for 231). They clubbed 15 home runs, averaging 8.5 runs per game along the way.

"We'd struggled so much on the road, we needed to pick it up, which we did," said Francona.

And now the Sox head home, where they are 22-10. Cleveland visits for three games and then, after a day off, Toronto will invade Fenway for three games.

By then, the recently completed road trip won't mean anything, say the Sox, except to remind them of what has to be done home or away.

"We need to continue to play good baseball," said Varitek.

The way they have been for two weeks now.