Red Sox vs Athletics (4/1-4/2)

Game 1: Daisuke Matsuzaka turned in one of his best starts in the Major Leagues on Tuesday night in Oakland. Dice-K was dealing all night long and did not issue a single walk to the A’s. Matsuzaka was efficient, throwing 96 pitches and plowing through 6.2 innings before being removed. The final line: 6.2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 9 K. The brilliant outing gives Matsuzaka 11.2 IP and only 4 hits allowed in the young season.

The A’s only run, came from a Jack Cust solo homerun in the early going, but Matsuzaka settled down after that before handing the ball to Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon to finish the game. Okajima struggled to throw strikes, but pitched a scoreless inning. Papelbon was his normal untouchable self as he picked up a four out save and struck out the side in the bottom of the 9th inning.

The Red Sox trailed 1-0 until the 5th inning when Jacoby Ellsbury looped an RBI-single into right field. The Sox took the lead in the 6th when the struggling Jason Varitek ripped a 2-run homerun to right. The umpires, however, ruled that it was only a double. The Red Sox still scored a run in the inning. This run turned out to be the game winner.

Aside from Jason Varitek (2/4) and Kevin Youkilis (3/4) there weren’t many bright spots for the Red Sox offense. David Ortiz went 0/4 and is now 0/11 on the season. Look for him to pick it up shortly.

The Red Sox move to 2-1 with the win.