ALLENTOWN, Pa. –– Daisuke Matsuzaka never had to bother with the minor leagues when he arrived from Japan to join the Boston Red Sox pitching staff in 2007.

Last night, Matsuzaka showed why such a step would have been unnecessary.

Matsuzaka breezed through his first appearance in the minors, not allowing a hit until he appeared to tire in the fifth inning of a rain-delayed injury rehabilitation assignment with the PawSox against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.

“I think the biggest thing is I was able to pitch today without any problems,” Matsuzaka said through an interpreter after picking up the win in a 9-6 victory.

Although he is coming back from a strained rotator cuff that sent him to the 15-day disabled list at the end of last month, Matsuzaka was too much for a struggling Triple A lineup until allowing two runs on three hits in the fifth.

Matsuzaka could pitch for the Red Sox as early as Saturday against St. Louis.

“I haven’t been told exactly how things are going to play out,” Matsuzaka said.

One thing was clear, however, for Matsuzaka.

When asked about the status of his shoulder, he said, “there’s no problems.”

In his first trip through the batting order, Matsuzaka did not allow a ball past the infielders while retiring the side in the first three innings on just 27 pitches, including 22 for strikes.

Matsuzaka got behind on just two batters and threw two balls in only one at-bat in the first three innings. He struck out the side on 11 pitches in the second inning and got four groundballs. One of the two flyouts was a flare into shallow center field on which shortstop Jed Lowrie made a running overhead catch.

Brandon Watson reached on an error to start the fourth, but was erased trying to steal.

Four of the first five Lehigh Valley batters reached in the fifth inning and a wild pitch allowed the second run to score.

Matsuzaka finished the fifth and held on to a 4-2 lead. He had thrown 65 pitches, including 47 for strikes, while walking one and striking out five.

Word came out of Cincinnati Friday and the IronPigs began promoting the Matsuzaka appearance on Saturday.

By the time the PawSox took the field Saturday for the start of a four-game series, the anticipation of the first big injury rehabilitation appearance was building at Coca-Cola Park, the home field of the first-year franchise.

“We came out and fans were already at the fence asking us if Dice-K was here yet,” PawSox manager Ron Johnson said.

As it turned out, the crowd of 8,803 –– nearly 3,400 more than the average of the four previous Monday night home games –– had to wait a big longer.

“Pregame decisions by Lehigh Valley management helped make the appearance possible.

The game was delayed even though it was not raining at the scheduled 7:05 start.

A tarp covered the mound and infield before rain and lightning passed through the area at about 7:25. Matsuzaka had stretched and long tossed in the outfield, but a warning that the game would be delayed, allowed him to stop the pregame routine before heading to the bullpen mound.

The right-hander threw first-pitch strikes to 11 of the first 13 batters he faced and reached as high as 93 mph on the radar shown at the stadium.