Red Sox Take Early Opener

Baseball season hasn't officially begun in the States, but the Red Sox edged the A's 6-5 in 10 innings in the official MLB opener in Japan.

The game began at 6 a.m. EDT with Daisuke Matsuzaka facing Joe Blanton. Dice-K had a shaky start, walking 5 in his 5 innings of work. The A's reached him for 2 runs in the first, one of them courtesy of a Mark Ellis home run.

But Blanton ran into trouble in the 6th, surrendering a 2-run double to Manny Ramirez and a go-ahead RBI single to Brandon Moss.

Kyle Snyder gave the lead right back though, serving up a gopher ball to 3rd Baseman Jack Hannahan, who stroked a 2-run HR. Hannahan is playing in place of the injured Eric Chavez.

The A's bullpen fared no better though. Huston Street blew the first save opportunity the season, allowing a tying solo shot to Moss in the 9th. It was the first of Moss' career. Street then lost it in the 10th, allowing a 2-out, 2-run double to Ramirez.

The A's rallied against Jon Papelbon in the 10th, but some bad base running helped cut the rally short. Emil Brown doubled home Daric Barton, but was cut down trying to advance to 3rd on the play. The play proved costly when Bobby Crosby and Hannahan followed with singles, but Kurt Suzuki grounded out to end the ball game.

Boston
	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K	LOB	Season Avg
D. Pedroia 2b	4	1	2	0	0	0	1	.500
K. Youkilis 1b	4	1	1	0	1	1	1	.250
D. Ortiz dh	4	1	0	0	1	0	5	.000
M. Ramirez lf	5	1	2	4	0	1	1	.400
C. Crisp pr-cf	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
M. Lowell 3b	4	0	1	0	1	1	1	.250
B. Moss rf	5	1	2	2	0	0	3	.400
J. Varitek c	4	0	0	0	0	3	2	.000
J. Ellsbury cf-lf	4	0	1	0	0	1	0	.250
J. Lugo ss	4	1	2	0	0	0	1	.500
A. Cora ss	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Totals	38	6	11	6	3	7	15

Batting 2B - D Pedroia (1, J Blanton); M Ramirez 2 (2, J Blanton, H Street). HR - B Moss (1, 9th inning off H Street 0 on, 1 Out). S - D Pedroia. RBI - M Ramirez 4 (4), B Moss 2 (2). 2-out RBI - B Moss, M Ramirez 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - M Ramirez 1, J Varitek 1, D Ortiz 1, B Moss 1. GIDP - J Varitek, J Lugo. Team LOB - 6.

Fielding Outfield assists - B Moss (E Brown at 3rd base).

Oakland
	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K	LOB	Season Avg
T. Buck rf	5	0	0	0	0	2	2	.000
M. Ellis 2b	4	1	1	1	1	0	1	.250
D. Barton 1b	2	2	0	0	3	1	0	.000
J. Cust dh	4	0	0	0	0	4	4	.000
E. Brown lf	4	0	1	1	1	0	0	.250
B. Crosby ss	5	1	2	1	0	0	0	.400
J. Hannahan 3b	4	1	2	2	1	1	2	.500
K. Suzuki c	5	0	1	0	0	2	3	.200
R. Sweeney cf	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000
M. Sweeney ph	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	.000
J. Fiorentino pr-cf	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Totals	36	5	7	5	7	10	13

Batting 2B - E Brown (1, J Papelbon). HR - M Ellis (1, 1st inning off D Matsuzaka 0 on, 1 Out), J Hannahan (1, 6th inning off K Snyder 1 on, 0 Out). RBI - M Ellis (1), B Crosby (1), J Hannahan 2 (2), E Brown (1). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - J Cust 2, J Hannahan 2, K Suzuki 1. Team LOB - 9.

Base Running SB - K Suzuki (1, 2nd base off D Matsuzaka/J Varitek). Fielding DP - 2 (B Crosby-M Ellis-D Barton, M Ellis-B Crosby-D Barton).

Boston
	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	Season ERA
D. Matsuzaka	5.0	2	2	2	5	6	1	3.60
K. Snyder (BS, 1)	1.1	2	2	2	0	1	1	13.50
J. Lopez	0.2	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.00
B. Corey	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
H. Okajima (W, 1-0)	1.0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0.00
J. Papelbon (S, 1)	1.0	3	1	1	1	1	0	9.00
Oakland
	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	Season ERA
J. Blanton	5.2	7	3	3	1	3	0	4.76
A. Embree	1.1	1	0	0	0	1	0	0.00
K. Foulke (H, 1)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.00
H. Street (L, 0-1; BS, 1)	1.2	3	3	3	1	2	1	16.20
L. DiNardo	0.1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0.00

WP - D Matsuzaka.

IBB - D Ortiz (by H Street), M Lowell (by L DiNardo).

HBP - J Cust (by D Matsuzaka).

Pitches-strikes - D Matsuzaka 95-51; K Snyder 16-10; J Lopez 9-5; B Corey 9-6; H Okajima 19-10; J Papelbon 23-13; J Blanton 94-58; A Embree 15-10; K Foulke 17-11; H Street 32-19; L DiNardo 8-2.

Ground balls-fly balls - D Matsuzaka 5-4; K Snyder 1-2; J Lopez 0-1; B Corey 2-1; H Okajima 1-1; J Papelbon 1-0; J Blanton 8-6; A Embree 3-0; K Foulke 0-2; H Street 1-2; L DiNardo 0-1.

Batters faced - D Matsuzaka 23; K Snyder 6; J Lopez 2; B Corey 3; H Okajima 4; J Papelbon 6; J Blanton 24; A Embree 4; K Foulke 3; H Street 9; L DiNardo 2.