BOSTON (AP) - Manny Ramirez returned after missing 24 games. Curt Schilling was back after nine days off. Things were back to normal in Boston.

Ramirez went 1-for-2 with a walk, Schilling won for the first time in more than a month and the Red Sox reduced their magic number for winning the AL East to three on Tuesday night.

Their 7-3 victory over the Oakland Athletics coupled with Tampa Bay's 7-6 win in 10 innings over New York made it a good night all around for the Red Sox, who led the Yankees by three games going into last night's games, but had lost six out of nine before Tuesday.

"I am sure it was an emotional lift for them to have players that were injured return," Athletics manager Bob Geren said. "And to return the same day sure was a boost for them."

Ramirez missed almost a month with a strained muscle in his left side. Schilling was rested as manager Terry Francona set up his postseason rotation. The Red Sox got even more good news on the injury front as Kevin Youkilis returned after missing seven games because of a bruised right wrist.

But it all started with Ramirez, who was serenaded by the sellout crowd at Fenway Park with "Manny, Manny." He lined a single to right his first time up then scored on Mike Lowell's double, tying the score at one in the first inning.

"I'm not surprised," Francona said. "He can do that."

Francona put Ramirez in the second spot in the line-up for just the seventh time in his 1,995 games to get him an extra at-bat he might not have had if he hit in his usual clean-up slot.

"It's a good start," Francona said. "The idea is to build, not go the other way, so we'll probably do something similar tomorrow. He came through and he said he felt fine."

In other AL games on Tuesday, it was: Detroit 8, Minnesota 0; Texas 3, Los Angeles 1; Cleveland 4, Seattle 3 in 12 innings; Toronto 11, Baltimore 4; and Kansas City 9, Chicago 5.

Schilling (9-8) allowed one run and six hits and left after six innings with a 3-1 lead. He struck out six and didn't issue a walk in winning for the first time since August 24. He admitted watching the scoreboard. "When I went out for the fourth and I saw the Yankees had gone up 5-0, it was kind of, `Hey, no margin for error now,"' Schilling said. "I thought we did some good things after that."

After Ramirez led off the fifth with a walk, Chad Gaudin (11-13) walked the next three batters to force in a run. Jacoby Ellsbury added a sacrifice fly to make it 3-1.

Ellsbury singled in a run in the seventh and the Red Sox pulled away with three runs in the eighth on Bobby Kielty's sacrifice fly and David Ortiz's two-run homer, his 33rd.