DETROIT (AP) -- Whether it's the old ballpark or the new, Trot Nixon loves hitting in Detroit.

Nixon was 4-for-5 with a grand slam and five RBI and four other Boston players homered as the Red Sox routed the Tigers 10-0 on Wednesday night.

	Nixon

"I'd just prefer that my decent hitting continue," Nixon said. "I don't care who it's against. I'm just seeing the ball well and I'm getting pitches to hit."

Jose Offerman, Troy O'Leary, Mike Stanley and Nomar Garciaparra also homered for the Red Sox, whose five homers were one shy of the six hit in the first seven games at Comerica Park.

Brian Rose (1-2) and three relievers combined on a six-hitter in Boston's second straight shutout against Detroit. The Red Sox, who will start AL Cy Young Award winner Pedro Martinez in Thursday's series finale, have outscored the Tigers 17-0 the last two nights.

"Starting pitching sets the tone of the game," Red Sox manager Jimy Williams said. "When you've got good starting pitching and play good defense, it sets up your offense. We bunched some things together and it worked out."

Tigers manager Phil Garner held a 10-minute meeting following Detroit's fourth straight loss.

"I haven't had a problem with the effort. They're still working hard," Garner said. "We talked about a direction we want to go. We addressed some things, but it wasn't a dressing-down meeting. I just said some things I wanted to say."

Detroit's Dean Palmer said the team can't let one bad day carry into another.

"You don't want negative momentum. You can't let this carry over," Palmer said. "Things haven't been going well, and when it carries over it starts to snowball. You have to take each day as a new day and just try to get better."

Rose, hit hard in his two previous starts, allowed three hits in six innings. His ERA dropped from 16.50 to 8.25.

"I know the last few starts I've been real anxious," Rose said. "I just slowed it down and worked towards striding toward the plate. I know I felt a lot better today."

Stanley, who was 4-for-5, hit a disputed home run to start Boston's six-run sixth. After two singles and a walk against Matt Anderson, Nixon greeted Jim Poole with the first grand slam in Comerica Park history.

It was Nixon's first career bases-loaded hit, and he said a familiarity with Poole from their minor league days helped.

"I went to the plate and felt like I had to be aggressive," Nixon said. "I didn't know what he'd throw, but I knew what he had."

One out later, Garciaparra hit his first homer of the season to give Boston a 9-0 lead.

Nixon, who homered in the Red Sox's 7-0 victory Tuesday, joined Tampa Bay's Gerald Williams as the only players with two home runs in the Tigers' new home. He also had an RBI single in the seventh.

Detroit starter Hideo Nomo (1-1), who entered the game with a string of 15 scoreless innings, gave up four runs on five hits -- including three homers -- in five-plus innings.

"He struggled a little tonight. He had a high pitch count going into the sixth," Garner said. "It wasn't typical of him, but he did keep us in the game."

Stanley led off the sixth with a drive that bounded somewhere off the top of the right-center field wall and back into play as Stanley rounded first with an apparent single.

Williams came out to argue the ball hit the railing above a yellow line and should have been a home run. Williams argued again as the Tigers changed pitchers and, after umpire crew chief Tim McClelland conferred with second base umpire Phil Cuzzi, Stanley was awarded a home run.

"The way I look at it is they're working as a team and the No. 1 thing is to get it right," Williams said. "In this particular case the man earned a home run and got it."

Game notes
The Tigers, who were shut out a major league-high 12 times last year, have been blanked four times this season -- all during the current homestand. ... Nixon stole second base in the third inning for Boston's first steal of the season. The Red Sox hadn't gone far into a season without a steal since going the first 15 games without one in 1987. ... The start of the game was delayed 23 minutes by rain.