in Oakland for the first time since 1988. By September, he had replaced Ron Mahay as Joakim Soria's setup man. He pitched in 71 games for the Royals with a 2.64 ERA. On September 4, in the second game of a doubleheader, Ramírez notched his first career save against the Athletics in a 9–6 victory. Ramírez finished the year with a 3–2 record, a 2.64 ERA, one save, 70 strikeouts, and innings pitched in 71 games. He was one of three major league pitchers to give up two or fewer home runs in over 70 innings (along with Roy Corcoran and Jason Grilli), and he was one of the American League (AL) pitchers to have an ERA under 3.00 with at least 70 innings pitched and 70 strikeouts (along with Francisco Rodríguez and Matt Thornton). Boston Red Sox On November 19, Ramírez was traded to the Boston Red Sox for outfielder Coco Crisp. On April 24, , he pitched a scoreless inning for the Red Sox and earned the win in an 11-inning 5–4 victory over the New York Yankees. He began his Red Sox tenure with 15 straight scoreless innings spanning 13 games from April 8 to May 3. On May 14, he pitched a season-high innings, giving up no runs in a 12-inning, 5–4 loss to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He struck out a season-high four batters and allowed a run in innings on July 9 in an 8–6 loss to the Royals. Ramírez finished the season with a 7–4 record, a 2.84 ERA, 52 strikeouts, and innings pitched. His seven wins were tied for third among AL relief pitchers and trailed only Alfredo Aceves (10) and Craig Breslow (8). Ramírez reached the playoffs for the first time in his career, as the Red Sox won the Wild Card. In Game 1 of the American League Division Series (ALDS), he gave up two runs without recording an out in his only playoff appearance, a 5–0 loss to the Angels. The Angels went on to sweep the Red Sox in three games. On April 27, , Ramírez got his first save since 2008 in a 2–1 win over the Baltimore Orioles, since Red Sox manager Terry Francona wanted to rest closer Jonathan Papelbon. He was charged with a loss on July 20 after pitching innings when Michael Bowden allowed an inherited runner to score in the 10th