Ramirez's preoccupation with his contract status had become a distracting factor within the team's dynamic, and the increasingly bizarre behavior exhibited by the wacky outfielder had simply gone too far.

According to several reports, a group of veterans Sox players and clubhouse leaders discussed the situation with Boston management, and intimated that it was time to make a move; Manny was simply too much of a distraction. His increasingly flaky behavior made it hard for teammates to gauge whether they could count on him for the remainder of the season, and "Manny Being Manny" had run its course.

"There was an environment that was not conducive to winning surrounding this club," said Epstein, who finally on Friday afternoon announced the completion of the three-team deal that brought in Bay from Pittsburgh. "We wanted to change that if we could. We also wanted to make a good baseball trade."

So, enter Bay, who addressed the media while meeting many of his new teammates and then went out and scored both runs in Friday night's victory -- including the game-winner in the 12th. The 29-year-old left fielder reached base four of the six times he came to the plate, walked twice, was hit by a pitch, smacked a triple off the Green Monster and showed both speed and impressive defensive instincts.

"I'll be the first to tell you that I don't wow you and absolutely knock you to the floor in any one category, but I try to do all aspects of the game as well as I can," said Bay. "With all the complementary pieces around me, doing all of the little things should be enough (to help the team win)."

RED SOX 2, A's 1 (12 innings): OF Jason Bay scored both of the game's runs and scored the game-winner in the 12th inning when he hit a two-out triple, and then scored on an infield single by SS Jed Lowrie, who picked up both RBIs in the victory. RHP Tim Wakefield left the game in the seventh inning with a 1-0 lead, but LHP Hideki Okajima surrendered a homer before Bay's bat got it done.