The Boston Red Sox got a much needed win last night over the Oakland A’s after playing some bad baseball as of late. Newcomer Jason Bay had a night to remember as he almost won the game with a walk-off home run, instead settling for a triple and then scoring the winning run on Jed Lowrie’s infield single.

It was a great way to kick off L.A.M. (Life After Manny). Speaking of Manny, you’ll probably never believe this gem from Gordon Edes, who incidentally finished up his run at the Boston Globe last night.

Of all the Manny moments in Boston, the last ranks as one of the most confounding. Within an hour after Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein informed Manny Ramírez he had been traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers Thursday, Ramírez’s agent, Scott Boras, called the Sox back, according to a source with direct knowledge of the negotiations. If the Sox dropped the option years on his contract — which they had agreed to do if they traded him — Boras said Ramírez would not be a problem the rest of the season.

For the Sox, the source said, Ramírez’s pledge of good behavior only served as a tacit admission that his disruptive conduct of the last couple of weeks had been calculated, and they had had good cause to suspect more was in the offing if they did not trade him. The Sox told him thanks but no thanks, what was done was done, and pack plenty of sunscreen.

I’m still speechless after reading it. What are the Red Sox going to do in that situation? Call the Dodgers and Pirates and say just kidding. That could end up being the ultimate Manny being Manny moment in his time with the Red Sox.

By the way, best of luck to Edes who’s moving on to Yahoo! Sports.

Craig Hansen should succeed in Pittsburgh.

The A’s made a bunch of roster moves before the game yesterday.

SOX & Dawgs was one of the top 50 Sports Blogs for the second quarter of 2008.

Bay got a nice welcome to Fenway Park last night as he was given a standing ovation before his first at-bat and was a little bit overwhelmed.

“It was actually very, very . . . overwhelming, really,” he said. “It’s going to be something I’ll probably never forget, that’s for sure. I can’t wait. Everyone says the best fans in baseball are here, and I can’t wait to be a part of the home team.”

Nevermind the fact that he almost won the game for them and probably would have gotten killed by his new teammates had the ball gone over the Green Monster.

“When it left the bat, yeah, then it started drifting to left-center,” said Bay about if he thought the ball, hit off Alan Embree, was going out of the ballpark. “But I’ll take what I can get.”

A’s closer Huston Street was happy that he survived the trade deadline.

The Red Sox players are turning a new page over after the departure of Manny.

The A’s owner defends all the moves that GM Billy Beane has made.

Tony Massarotti says the Red Sox have lot to prove now with Manny being gone.

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 San Francisco Chronicle, ContraCosta Times and San Jose Mercury News websites.