SEATTLE - Manny-less in Seattle. Sleepless in Boston. Woe is the Nation.

It was all too good, wasn't it? The Red Sox had won nine in a row, owned a 16-2 road mark, boasted the best record in baseball, and held a five-game lead (seven in the loss column) over the hated Yanks [Click here for American League Standings on May 13, 2002].

Then, a two-game losing streak in Seattle and Manny Ramirez sent to the shelf for 4-6 weeks with a broken left index finger. Yeesh. You'd think Manny had challenged Babe Ruth to arm wrestle or something.

In the first night of Life Without Manny, the Sox easily won the finale at Safeco last night. In front of 45,862 and a national television audience, Pedro Martinez fanned 12, and Boston ripped Seattle, 10-4, ringing out 16 hits in a loud tribute to its absent cleanup hitter.

But what's it going to be like over the next month? Ramirez leads the league with a .372 average. He's got nine homers and ranks second in the American League with 35 RBIs. He leads the league in slugging percentage, on-base percentage, and batting with runners in scoring position. And this was after a slow start. Now Ramirez has been erased and the Boston lineup is less fearsome (Jose Offerman batted sixth last night and DNP-Tony Clark is on the last train to Jack Clarksville).

''We might not kill people like we have, but the way our pitching has been, we haven't had to score that many runs anyway,'' said Brian Daubach, who took over Ramirez's cleanup spot with a pair of hits and an RBI.

Last night's slaughter was a nice response, but May 11 still goes down as a dark day in the Sox season.

Ramirez was in a playful mood before Saturday night's game. He spent a portion of the pregame with Carlos Baerga, Rey Sanchez, and Offerman discussing Nomar Garciaparra's charity bowling tourney. The event is scheduled for tonight on the North Shore and players were concerned about getting there on time. As the talk continued, Ramirez took a moment to put his hand on the shoulder of a reporter - one he'd never addressed before - and stare into the scribe's face.

''Let me see your eyes,'' said Ramirez as the stare was returned. ''OK, you're ready today.''

Playful. You never quite know where Manny's coming from or where he's going. After all, this is a man who shops at FAO Schwarz ... for himself.

Ramirez was ready. He hit a bloop single in the second. When Shea Hillenbrand laced a double down the left-field line, third base coach Mike Cubbage sent him home even though it was 0-0 and there were no outs. Ramirez slid headfirst and his left hand smacked into the shinguard of Seattle catcher Dan Wilson.

Out at the plate. Four to six weeks on the disabled list. Just like that.

Cubbage feels badly, but manager Grady Little won't be calling out the Lach Patrol or bringing back ''Send-'em-in-Kim.''

''[Cubbage] can't take the injury personally,'' said the manager. ''He just made an aggressive decision to send the runner. Manny not only hurt his hand on the play, but he's out, too. In our position, we can't start taking things personally when that happens. If I leave a pitcher in a game and he hurts his arm, I can't take it personally or I might as well quit.''

Rickey Henderson didn't think Ramirez's injury was too severe. ''He was moving it pretty good, so I hope it's just jammed like I did to myself a hundred thousand times,'' said Dr. Rickey.

Henderson (two hits, two runs, and a stolen base) didn't bite when it was mentioned that he'll get more playing time now that Ramirez is out.

''The way it was was all right with me,'' said Henderson.

Huh?

Sox owner John Henry spoke with CEO Larry Lucchino (back in Boston) yesterday morning, then started dialing Hitters-R-Us. By that time, Ramirez was already on a flight to Boston. Sox physician Bill Morgan last night confirmed that the injury will take ''at least 4-6 weeks to heal'' and may require surgery.

''It affects a whole lot of things with the lineup, starting with the way I write it,'' said Little. ''Dauber is fully capable of getting the job done. I hope a couple of players pick up the slack. We have to reach out and ask for a little more contributions from everyone. Through the season, you're going to hit a little construction in the road. We still have a talented club.''

Garciaparra, who is familiar with a Sox lineup depleted by injury, said, ''Everybody's got to get in there and fill the spot. It's tough to lose anybody. He's a big part of what we've been doing, but so is everybody else. We've been playing the game as a team and it's going to take a team effort to keep winning.''

Will it have an impact on the quality of pitches Garciaparra gets to hit?

''I only see one pitch a game anyway,'' said Garciaparra (2 for 5, two RBIs).

''Nobody's going to take Manny's place, obviously,'' said Daubach. ''But hopefully it won't be that bad. There's definitely an advantage to being a team with a higher payroll. We've got guys who can fill in. They're not Manny Ramirez, but they've been there before. We have a lot of other guys swinging the bat well.''

They went 8-2 on the trip. Life Without Manny continues tomorrow night against Oakland, the start of a 13-game homestand.

By Dan Shaughnessy of The Boston Globe Staff

This story ran on page D1 of the Boston Globe on 5/13/2002.

Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.