To the casual observer, the above photo of Boston Red Sox outfielder Manny Ramirez using a cellphone during a pitching change probably think it’s just “Manny being Manny”. That is so not the case though as it means only one thing. Manny’s comfortable again with his surroundings and that usually doesn’t bode well for the other team.

On Monday night, Manny is the hero driving in the only run of the game. Tuesday, Manny is once again the hero as his 2-run homer helped tie the game up. Yesterday, he was one of the many heroes on the Red Sox but had two big doubles in the game and looks completely locked in at the plate right now. And with him being in the Green Monster during the game yesterday, that means only one thing. Manny is back patrolling left field at Fenway Park.

Judging by the score of yesterday’s game (18-5), you could make the assumption that the game was a blowout the entirely not the case. Believe it or not, the Red Sox were actually trailing 3-0 after the top of the 1st and eventually took the lead at 4-3 in the 3rd. And with the Sox leading 7-5 in the 7th inning, the Minnesota Twins were a hit away from tying the game or taking the lead but Craig Hansen was able to worm his way out of trouble.

Then all of the sudden the floodgates opened up and the mighty Red Sox started flowing as 6 hits and 2 walks later, they had scored 7 runs off of 3 Twins relievers. And as the gracious hosts that they are, they decided 14 runs wasn’t enough and scored 4 more times in the 8th inning.

Needless to say, Twins skipper Ron Gardenhire was probably very happy to be leaving Boston after watching his team get swept in the 3-game set. By the way, the Twins had come into the series as winners of 18 of their last 21 games.

“The balls fly everywhere here,” Gardenhire said. “If you make mistakes here, they make you pay for it. You have scouting reports saying ‘this guy’s cold, this guy’s not swinging good,’ but, when they get in this ballpark, you throw all that out the window.

“You’re talking about hitters that struggle on the road, then come home and get excited. This place is conducive to hitting. It’s always been that way. There’s been a lot of exciting games at this ballpark. These guys play very well at home.”

“This is a tough place to play,” Gardenhire said. “Their hitters come alive here. We’ve seen that over the years, and today was a great example of it. Balls start flying around — balls in the corner, balls all over the place, the whole package. This team gets on a roll here and they’re hard to stop.”

The Red Sox really don’t mind having the day off today.

The Twins gave the slumping Carlos Gomez the day off yesterday.

Sarasota took a big step forward yesterday in their bid to lure the Red Sox away from their spring training home in Ft. Myers.

Lavelle E. Neal III feels that the Twins need to acquire an 8th inning bullpen arm.

If you think back to last year when Dustin Pedroia was struggling at the plate, Terry Francona stuck with him and the move paid off. With Jacoby Ellsbury struggling as of late, Tito was posed the question the other day about moving Ellsbury out of the lead off spot. Tito brushed it off and kept faith that the young speedster would eventually come around. Well since that question was posed on Tuesday, Ellsbury has looked good at the plate and looks to be coming out of his funk.

“It’s not like you wake up one morning and you can’t hit anymore. You just have to stay confident. You know they’ll eventually fall for you,” said Ellsbury after his 4-for-6 afternoon.

“The last two days, I’ve felt really good at the plate,” he said.

The Twins were on the wrong end of all the strange plays that happened during the game yesterday.

Bartolo Colon has backed off from throwing during his rehab.

Dustin Pedroia left the clubhouse yesterday telling reporters he was heading for a nude beach.

For more slices of Boston Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Hartford Courant and Providence Journal websites.

And if you must see what the enemy papers are saying you can check out the The Star Tribune and St. Paul Pioneer Press websites.