Has anyone else noticed how much more relaxed the Boston Red Sox look right now? They actually look like they are enjoying playing the game again as they don’t have to deal with the antics of one Manny Ramirez (I promise I’ll/we’ll stop talking about him eventually).

The night saw two of the components of the deal on Thursday hit home runs as Jason Bay hit a 3-run jack and Manny hit a 2-run jack. Coincidently, both teams won last night.

After watching the top half of the 1st inning, you thought oh boy, Lester’s going to have one of those outings and things are going to go down the crapper. That wasn’t the case though as he settled in after allowing 2 runs in the inning.

He didn’t need to worry though as his teammates had his back when after two batters, the game was tied at 2 and just 3 batters later, the Red Sox were leading 5-2.

Hopefully this is the start of a nice little run to get a stronger hold on a playoff spot. A win today would nice before they head to Kansas City and Chicago this week.

While I thought Lester looked good after the 1st inning, he was none too pleased with his mechanics.

“I don’t really know what is was, just couldn’t really find a rhythm with my mechanics. I don’t think anything was off, but I just couldn’t really find a rhythm, couldn’t feel comfortable and it was a grind to get through seven and Mikey picked me up, had a couple of great plays at third. It always helps when the offense is going out there and putting up that amount of runs. It takes pressure off you to be too fine. You can just go attack guys and hopefully get quick innings.”

Pitching with a lead definitely helps, especially after you’ve given up 2 runs before your team comes to bat and then you walk back out with a 3-run lead.

Huston Street is still the closer for the A’s but Bob Geren may go with a closer-by-committee down the stretch.

Mike Lowell has been playing with a strained right hip flexor for the past five weeks but was back in the lineup yesterday. He had left the night before when he aggravated the injury.

For the non-NESNers out there, here is the musical montage from before yesterday’s game.

Jason Bay is no Manny Ramirez when it comes to running out home runs and that’s a good thing. Bay also learned a valuable lesson on Friday night, take your helmet off.

“I learned [on Friday] that you don’t come in the dugout with your helmet on after you score a run, because you get pounded in the head pretty good. I took that thing off immediately when I got there,” Bay said following Saturday’s 12-2 rout.

“It’s a little different here, because the atmosphere in this locker room is very relaxed, albeit with all the media and Red Sox Nation and all that stuff,” he said. “Everyone in here seems to take it in stride. We’re very loose, very professional. That’s the biggest thing. [Manager Terry Francona] just lets everyone do their thing, [saying], ‘Hey, you’re a professional, you know what you need to do.’ That’s something I haven’t really been a part of. Everyone seems to know what they have to do, and they do it.”

Ever since Manny slapped Kevin Youkilis, Youk’s been on a tear at the plate and remains one of the most consistent Red Sox hitters this season.

And in case you missed it, Scott Boras denied that he ever spoke with the Red Sox about Manny staying in Boston after the trade.

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.