Boston left fielder Manny Ramirez raises his arms in jubilation after his game-winning solo homer sails over the bullpens in right field last night.

The Providence Journal / Bob Breidenbach

BOSTON — The wait to have Manny become Manny is over. The Manny Ramirez who Red Sox fans have come to know and cheer has arrived.

Last night was his coming-out party.

Ramirez capped a weird and wild night at Fenway with a two-out, two-strike home run over the bullpens in right field in the eighth inning, snapping a tie game and giving the Red Sox an 8-7 triumph over Seattle.

It was drama and entertainment as only Ramirez can provide, the capper to a night when so many different sides of the unique character that is Manny Ramirez came to the surface.

The game winner was the second homer of the night for Ramirez, who began the game with only three this season. He also clubbed a two-run shot into the Monster seats in left in the fourth.

“I thought his timing was perfect,” Sox manager Terry Francona said of Ramirez, who began the night hitting .227 after being under .200 much of the season.

It is easy to expect it to be just the start for Ramirez.

“I hope so,” Francona said. “His track record says that when he gets hot he doesn’t get a lot of singles. … It’s just the way he operates. He took some healthy swings tonight.”

What made the night that much more eventful was that the home runs came after two other plays by Ramirez that were, well, Manny just being Manny.

He had the kind of night that makes him different.

In the first, it was his fielding that brought some oohs and aahs. It was not for a great play, but rather one of the Manny moments. The Mariners already had scored five runs in, helped by a couple of shaky defensive plays by shortstop Julio Lugo. They had runners on first and second with one out when Jose Lopez lofted a lazy fly ball to Ramirez. Ramirez easily got under it. And then made a basket catch. It brought on some laughs, even if some were nervous laughs since the inning had gone so badly.

In the second, after the Sox scored five times to pull even at 5-5, Ramirez ended it by grounding into a double play. He made it stand out, though, because he ran at less than full speed. He hit the ball hard right up the middle. It would almost surely have been a double play under any circumstances, even though shortstop Yunieksy Betancourt had to dive to make the play, then flip to second baseman Lopez for the first out.

It looked bad because Ramirez jogged toward first base. He was out by three steps.

By the end of the night, the basket catch and the less than total hustle on the double play ball were long forgotten.

The good Manny took over the rest of the game.

His first homer gave the Sox a 7-5 lead in the fourth. It went directly into the teeth of a wind that knocked down balls all night.

“The first one he hit didn’t end up going out that far [it landed in the second row of the Monster seats] but to get it out tonight [was big], Francona said.

The game winner in the eighth was equally impressive.

“The ball he hit to right, the ball was absolutely leaned on, Francona said. “I mean, he hit that like like a power left-hand hitter. I can see why he admired it.”

The two home runs gave him 475 for his career, tying him with Stan Musial and Willie Stargell for 27th on the all-time list. It also was his 48th multi home run game, tying him with Juan Gonzalez for 12th on that list.

The performance by Ramirez gave the Sox their 11th come-from-behind victory this season. This time, they were behind by five runs before they even had a chance to hit. The Mariners scored five times off Daisuke Matsuzaka in the top of the first.

Even for a team that has made a habit out of coming from behind, the night was special beyond Ramirez. Every Sox starter reached base. Seven different players scored runs. The Sox had 20 men reach base. Yet, they still needed Manny being Manny to win it.

The crowd of 37,216, the largest at Fenway since World War II, had numerous other events to soak up. The last was the fact that J.C. Romero came on in the ninth, with Jonathan Papelbon and Hideki Okajima both unavailable, and nailed down the save. He became the fourth Red Sox pitcher this season to record a save.

The Ramirez dramatics overshadowed a weird night for Matsuzaka.

He lasted only five innings, the first time in his six starts that he has failed to go at least six.

His line provided some indication of how crazy a night it was. It went like this: 5-5-7-7-5-1. That is, five innings, five hits allowed, seven runs, all earned, five walks and only one strikeout. Oh yes, he also hit a batter, that Richie Sexson on an 0-2 pitch.

That turned out to be critical. It came during a five-run Seattle first inning, a frame in which the Mariners had only two hits, and one of those was questionable. It was a grounder to short that was originally scored an error for Julio Lugo, then changed to a hit.

Matsuzaka needed 35 pitches to get out of the first. As has been his trademark thus far, once he escaped his one bad inning — 15 of the 23 runs he has allowed have come in five innings — he was fine. After the first, he did not allow another hit until the fifth, when Seattle scored two more runs. Again, his defense was a bit shaky.

A key play in the inning came when Betancourt was credited with a single when he beat out a roller to short. Jose Guillen, who was on second base, intentionally screened Lugo, preventing him from getting to the ball as quickly as he would have liked. Lugo’s throw to first was high, pulling Kevin Youkilis off the bag.

The tough night ballooned Matsuzaka’s earned run average from 4.36 to 5.45. His ERA in his three starts at Fenway is 7.58.

pkenyon@projo.com