Red Sox starter Daisuke Matsuzaka unleashes a pitch in the first inning of his Fenway Park debut last night against the Seattle Mariners.

The Providence Journal / Bob Breidenbach

BOSTON — Anyone who wonders why the Boston Red Sox would invest $103 million to obtain a pitcher who had never thrown a ball in the major leagues should have been at Fenway Park last night.

Daisuke Matsuzaka went to work for the first time in his new home and created a different atmosphere, an even more festive atmosphere than usual in perhaps the most festive baseball park in America.

Even in a 3-0 loss to Seattle, Matsuzaka provided every indication that Red Sox’ ownership made a sound investment — a very shrewd investment — when it outbid every other major-league team for his services.

Because of him, Red Sox Nation has gone international. His mere presence kicks up the atmosphere, as was evidenced by the flash bulbs that went off when Matsuzaka was on the mound.

In the big picture, it does not matter that Boston lost to Seattle and its young phenom, Felix Hernandez, perhaps the top pitching prospect in the game. What is much more important for Boston, in the long run, is that Sox fans had their first chance to see for themselves, up close and personal, why Matsuzaka has created such a stir. And Matsuzaka was solid.

He was the reason 350 media members were credentialed to cover the game. There were reporters and cameramen lining the right-field line, almost to the foul pole, before the game. Camera people positioned themselves outside the Boston dugout to get shots of Matsuaka as he emerged at 6:29 p.m. to begin his warmup. Fans stood behind the Boston bullpen to greet and then watch him as Matsuzaka did his pregame work. Another group waved a Japanese flag in the walkway above the bleachers in left-center.

When he took the mound and faced Seattle leadoff hitter Ichiro Suzuki, Fenway Park looked more like a Disney light show than a ball game. Flash bulbs popped all over the park.

“It wasn’t easy to throw with all the flash bulbs going off,” Matsuzaka said of his first pitch, “but I’m glad I got a strike.” The light show did not stop after one pitch. It kept going.

“It’s got to be hard to hit like that,” Boston manager Terry Francona said. “You don’t see that very often.”

The game was carried by four television networks — NESN, ESPN, FSN Northwest and NHK of Japan. It was broadcast live, with an 8 a.m. start time, by the Jolf radio network in Japan.

The Sox will not sell any more tickets because of Matsuzaka — last night’s crowd of 36,630, the second-largest in Fenway history (because of added seats), was the 309th straight sellout. Still, the ancillary benefits look as if they will be huge. Assuming he keeps pitching well, Matsuzaka’s personality is likely to only make it better as time passes.

“He’s disarming. He’s got a very infectious smile. He’s a nice kid,” Francona said of Matsuzaka. “He likes playing baseball, you can tell.

“It’s hard because you can’t talk to him much, but he enjoys doing what he’s doing. And when you communicate with him, although it’s not easy, he puts you at ease with his body language, his smile, which we appreciate. Hopefully we’re probably doing the same for him,” Francona said.

It all made Matsuzaka comfortable.

“The great welcome I received here in my first start, I was obviously very happy,” he said through his translator. “In my next start I hope to respond to that in kind.”

He pitched solidly. Not great, but fine. He went seven innings and allowed three runs on eight hits, with one walk and four strikeouts. He had his biggest problems with another player from Japan. Not Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle’s star, but catcher Kenji Johjima.

Johjima, who had extensive experience against Matsuzaka in Japan (32-for-118, including five home runs), had two doubles in three trips, including a double to help set up Seattle’s first run, in the second.

The match so many wanted to see, Matsuzaka versus Ichiro, went to Matsuzaka. Matsuzaka retired Ichiro all four times he faced him. The highlight was striking out Ichiro on a splitter in the fifth. Matsuzaka also knocked Ichiro down on a high fastball in the seventh before retiring him on a grounder to second.

“He didn’t give up that much, but it was on a night when one was too much,” Francona said. His problem was his breaking ball. Several of the Mariners’ hits came on breaking balls that he left up in the zone.

“Matt was fine. He had to fight through the game. He’s definitely going to have better days than today,” said Boston slugger David Ortiz.

“In his eyes, it probably wasn’t his best,” catcher Jason Varitek said, “but he made some real good pitches. He pitched well enough to keep us in that game. The other guy just pitched a little better today.”

Boston lost because it faced the best pitching prospect in the game. The 21-year-old Hernandez no-hit the Sox for seven innings before J.D. Drew led off the eighth with a single up the middle, just past the dive of second baseman Jose Lopez.

Hernandez, who had pitched eight shutout innings and allowed only three hits in beating Oakland in his first start, went the distance last night. He walked two and struck out six. Francona spoke not only about his 95 mph fastball but his breaking ball.

“He threw it two different speeds,” he said. “There were so many that started in the zone and ended out of the zone. I don’t know how you lay off those.”

Hernandez will be a huge boost for Seattle, which is not likely to be very good overall. But he will not have the overall impact that Matsuzaka figures to have on the Boston organization.

“The way he has handled his responsibilities,” Francona said of Matsuzaka, “has made it a heck of a lot easier on us.”

pkenyon@projo.com