Chicago's Manny Ramirez walks into a news conference on Tuesday in Cleveland. (Mark Duncan/Associated Press)

Manny Ramirez packed his equipment into three large, blue travel bags with script "Dodgers" on the sides. Dressed in a pink shirt and plaid suit, he fiddled with his dreadlocked hair, for the moment safe from a barber's scissors.

His dragged-out debut for the Chicago White Sox finally over, Ramirez left Cleveland for Boston, the next stop on his first road trip with his new team.

It's been perfect, so far.

Ramirez provided only a bloop single in his first game for the White Sox, but for the second straight game his presence was felt in the on-deck circle as Paul Konerko, batting cleanup in front of the colourful slugger, connected for a three-run homer in the eighth inning Wednesday to give Chicago a 6-4 win and a three-game sweep of the Indians.

After weeks of speculation, Ramirez was finally in Chicago's lineup. Just by being Manny, he seemed to raise confidence in the White Sox that they could come back.

With the win, Chicago improved to 3-0 on a critical 10-game trip as it tries to reel in first-place Minnesota atop the AL Central.

"It's nice, and it's needed," Konerko said of the three-game winning streak since Ramirez was acquired. "Minnesota is going to be up there.

"The only time we can control what they're going to do is when we play them."

Afterward, Ramirez hinted that he may indeed get a haircut, which has been a sensitive issue since the White Sox claimed him off waivers from the Los Angeles Dodgers. White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf's policy is his players have short hair, and Ramirez seems willing to conform.

"It seems like everywhere I go, people want to talk about the hair," said Ramirez, who shot down the topic during a news conference Tuesday.

So, will he get it cut?

"Why not?" he said.

Ramirez doesn't need to hit to be a factor.

"When you see Manny behind those guys, you have to be careful how you pitch to them," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said.

Wearing his familiar No. 99, Ramirez went 1-for-3 in his return to the AL after 2 1/2 seasons with Los Angeles. He grounded out in the second, struck out in the fourth, blooped a single to right in the seventh and was hit in the upper back by a 70 mile-an-hour breaking ball from Justin Germano in the ninth, two pitches after Konerko hit his 33rd homer.

Ramirez admitted he was a little rusty. Because of injuries, he's made only five starts since June 29.

"I'm trying to take it a pitch at a time," he said. "I haven't played for a long time.

"I'm just trying to get my rhythm and see as many pitches as I can. But I'm getting there."