They came home to a city infested with baseball panic. Here it was, not even a week into July, and Red Sox fans were in a full-blown tizzy. What happened to that team that had such lofty expectations?

For one night -- and the Sox hope it's a sign of what's in store the rest of the way -- everything was back.

From the sheer mastery of veteran knuckleballer Tim Wakefield to the relentless bashing of the 17-hit offense, the Sox looked exactly like the juggernaut many expected they'd be.

It all added up to an 11-0 rout over the A's that made more than a few people wonder how the Sox could possibly go 1-5 on their last road trip, not to mention 14-20 in the 34 games that preceded this one.

Now they just hope they can carry it into Wednesday and record their first two-game winning streak since June 17-18.

Wakefield (7 innings, 3 hits, 6 strikeouts) set an early tone, pitching well for the third consecutive start and picking up his first victory since May 23.

As for the bats, they put forth a 2003-esque display. Leadoff man Johnny Damon extended his hitting streak to 11 games by going 5-for-6. Kevin Millar broke out of a severe production slump by going 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Mark Bellhorn, Nomar Garciaparra, Doug Mirabelli and Bill Mueller (3 runs, 3 RBIs) added multi-hit games.

"We were pretty good tonight," said Damon. "We caught the ball, Wake pitched great, got some clutch hitting with runners in scoring position. We did it all tonight."

It was a rare night in which All-Stars David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez (a combined 0-for-8) didn't have to carry the offense.

"Everybody did something," said Sox manager Terry Francona. "Billy Mueller's hit early was huge. Johnny Damon had a fabulous night."

The surest sign that the Sox are back to full strength was Mueller -- the league's defending batting champion -- hitting in the ninth spot in his first game at Fenway Park since May 12.

"He's fooling people hitting in the ninth spot," said Ortiz. "When you see a guy hitting in the ninth spot, a guy who won the batting title, you'll be like, 'OK, something's going on in this lineup'. That's what this lineup was all about last year. You have something at the beginning, the middle and the end."

It was game No. 81 of the season for the 44-37 Sox, a nice bit of closure to an often frustrating first half. It was also the first time this season Francona has had his entire lineup together. Garciaparra, Nixon and Mueller are all back from injuries, and unlike the weekend series in Atlanta, the Sox also had use of the DH.

"It's time to start banging the ball around and gut check ourselves, and we're excited to get going," said Millar. "The Sox need to get rolling right now because we're excited."

The Sox began getting to A's lefty Barry Zito in the second. Millar led off with a single to right, and with one out, the Sox got a break. Mirabelli's grounder to first slipped through the legs of A's first baseman Erubiel Durazo. That gaffe was followed by a three-run homer from Mueller, breaking the scoreless tie.

"He's the guy we sorely missed," Damon said of Mueller. "He doesn't give up too many at-bats. Last year I probably counted 10."

Wakefield made that lead hold up, and the Sox added to it in the fourth. Zito walked the bases loaded with nobody out, then walked Bellhorn to make it 4-0. After Ortiz popped out to left field, Ramirez walked to force in another run.

Millar put the exclamation point on the four-run rally, smashing a two-run double to left. For Millar, those RBIs were his first in 45 at-bats.

They couldn't have come at a better time, as Garciaparra had just lined out with the bases loaded for out No. 2.

"If he hits like he can, I should say, 'when' he hits like he can, that's gonna be the biggest spark for us," said Francona. "I was thrilled for him, absolutely thrilled for him."

Not so thrilled was Zito, who threw a whopping 102 pitches in four innings before giving way to the bullpen.

The change in pitchers did nothing to quiet the suddenly booming Boston bats. They went on another rampage in the fifth, this time victimizing right-hander Justin Lehr. For the second consecutive inning, the Sox sent nine men to the plate and scored four runs.

With the bases loaded and nobody out, Bellhorn produced an infield hit to get a run home. Ramirez brought another home with a fielder's choice grounder. And Garciaparra ripped a two-run single up the middle.

It was smooth sailing for Wakefield, who moved into fourth place on the all-time club list in innings pitched. The way things have gone for Wakefield over the last few weeks, he deserved a stress-free night.

"I can only pitch the best I can," said Wakefield, who improved to 5-5 and lowered his ERA to 3.97. "Sometimes I am going to pitch great. Sometimes I'm not. Sometimes they're going to score a lot of runs for me and sometimes they're not. I don't look at it as a personal goal for me. I look at it in the team standpoint."

With this victory, the Sox narrowed their AL East deficit to seven games. They trail the A's and Rangers by two games in the Wild Card standings. Not exactly the way the Sox wanted things to be, but they know there's a lot of baseball to be played.

"We believe in each other," said Millar. "We're a family in this clubhouse. All that's happened the last couple of weeks has been a minor disappointment, but it's not the major catastrophe everyone is making it out to be. These are tough times now, but we're a great team. This is the first night we're back at our house with our lineup back."

The A's were the first team to feel the wrath.