Manny Ramirez Homers and Adds 2-Run Double As Red Sox Wait Out Rain to Beat Yankees 4-3

A day after Chien-Ming Wang pitched a two-hitter to beat Boston in the series opener, Beckett (1-1) allowed just one questionable hit in the first five innings, and five hits in all. He walked one, struck out five and threw two wild pitches in 6 2-3 innings.

Mike Mussina (1-2) allowed four runs and eight hits before leaving after Ramirez doubled with two out in the sixth to give Boston a 3-2 lead. Brian Bruney relieved him and gave up an RBI single to Kevin Youkilis before J.D. Drew popped to short to end the inning.

The game was delayed 2 hours and 11 minutes with New York runners on first and second and two outs in the eighth. Jonathan Papelbon had come on to face Alex Rodriguez but hadn't thrown a pitch when the tarp came out.

Papelbon warmed up again during the delay, and again when play resumed before finally fanning Rodriguez on three pitches to end the threat. Only about 10,000 of the sellout crowd remained to see the Red Sox closer strike out two more in a perfect ninth for his fourth save in four tries.

Ramirez hit a solo homer off a billboard above the seats above the Green Monster to give Boston a 1-0 lead in the fourth. It was homer No. 492 for him; his next ties him with Lou Gehrig and Fred McGriff for 24th on the all-time list.

The Yankees scored twice in the sixth when Jose Molina and Alberto Gonzalez singled and scored. Jacoby Ellsbury singled and Dustin Pedroia doubled with one out in the bottom half, and Yankees manager Joe Girardi decided to pitch to slumping David Ortiz, who was hitless in his last 15 at-bats and batting just .073.

Mussina struck out Ortiz _ his only strikeout of the game and the 20th time he's fanned the Red Sox DH, the most for any pitcher he's faced. But with first base still open Mussina pitched to Ramirez and gave up a first-pitch line drive to right-center that scored both runners.

After Youkilis made it 4-2, Robinson Cano doubled to score Jorge Posada and chase Beckett in the seventh.

Beckett won eight of his last nine starts in 2007, including all four in the playoffs to lead the Red Sox to their second World Series title in four seasons. But he hurt his lower back in spring training, missed the team's season-opening trip to Tokyo and gave up five runs in 4 2-3 innings in his 2008 debut.

He bounced back on Saturday with a dominating performance early. The only baserunner in the first five innings came on Cano's ground ball that Pedroia dropped at second base when he took the ball out of his glove. It was ruled a hit by official scorer Mike Shalin, a decision that was much-debated until Molina singled up the middle to lead off the sixth _ the first clean hit of the game.

Despite giving up four hits in the first inning, Mussina faced just one batter over the minimum in the first two innings. Two baserunners were erased on double plays and Jason Varitek was thrown out easily trying to stretch a single into a double.

Notes:@ Ortiz went 0-for-4 and is 3-for-43 for the season. ... Yankees SS Derek Jeter stretched with the team before the game but missed his fifth straight game with a strained left thigh. Friday night was the first game at Fenway he missed since 1996, a streak of 94 in a row. ... The German Foreign Minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, threw out the ceremonial first pitch. ... Yankees OF Hideki Matsui got the day off. ... Ramirez hit his 53rd homer against the Yankees, tying Hank Greenberg for third-most all-time. Jimmie Foxx has 70, Ted Williams 62 and Carl Yastrzemski 52. Ramirez has seven homers against Mussina, the third most for any pitcher he's faced. He also has 155 RBIs against the Yankees _ third-most for any player. Yaz is first with 163. ... Mussina's lone strikeout moved him into 21st all-time, passing David Cone, with 2,669 in his career.

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