Daisuke Matsuzaka struck out nine and gave up just two hits in 6.2 innings pitched to earn his first victory of the season. The Boston offense contributed with two runs batted in from Jacoby Ellsbury and Jason Varitek in the win.
Jonathan Papelbon notched his second save of the season striking out the side in the ninth.
Star of the Game: Dice-K
Almost reaching the 100 pitch mark (96 to be exact), Matsuzaka, only allowed one run over the 6.2 innings pitched having great command of the strike zone en route to striking out 9 Athletics. Matsuzaka also avoided “the big inning” after allowing a solo-homerun to Jack Cust in the bottom of the second and then retired the rest of the side in order.
Preview of Next Game: Jon Lester (0-1) vs Rich Harden (1-0)
The Red Sox offense needs to find a way to score some runs for Lester who had trouble against this A’s lineup last time around in Japan. Harden was fabulous in his outing against the Sox last time. Boston needs to make Harden get into high pitch counts early and make him have an early exit in this one.
Game Highlights:
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