Red Sox center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury makes a diving catch of a fly ball to shallow left off the bat of Minnesota’s Carlos Gomez during the eighth inning of last night’s game at Fenway Park.

The Providence Journal / Bob Breidenbach

BOSTON — They needed to come home. They wanted to come home. The Boston Red Sox were home.

Fenway Park has been very kind to the Red Sox for a long time, for obvious reasons. Boston entered last night’s game against the Minnesota Twins with a 29-8 record at home this season. The Sox are 11-2 in 13 home series in 2008, and they were hoping to continue that streak against the Twins during this three-game set.

This is why: Prior to last night’s game, the Sox were 31-10 at home and 21-29 on the road. During the club’s recent road trip, Boston went 3-7, and after a split with the Yankees over the weekend, numerous Red Sox players said how important it was for the club to get back home.

It worked.

The Red Sox eked out a 1-0 victory over Minnesota, thanks to solid pitching performances by Daisuke Matsuzaka, Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon and timely hitting by Dustin Pedroia and Manny Ramirez.

With the game stuck on a stalemate in the eighth, Pedroia extended his hitting streak to a career-high 15 games with a leadoff double. Then the struggling Ramirez provided what proved to be the winning run with a single to right that scored Pedroia.

“I didn’t care who it was,” said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. “Push a run across and make it stand, but it was great. We needed something, anything, so we could leave here on a night when we were a little frustrated offensively, but we got a win. We talk about it all the time; it’s a lot more fun to talk about how we can do things better after a win.”

The venue and the timely hitting can’t be given all of the credit for the victory because Matsuzaka was outstanding despite the no-decision.

“He threw a lot of strikes,” said Francona. “He had good finish on his pitches. He challenged a lot of hitters with his fastball, and got it by them. He had depth to his slider and threw a cutter. He threw with a lot of confidence and looked like he was feeling pretty good about himself. The game did dictate at some point that we go to the bullpen. He threw the ball very well.”

In his longest outing of the season, the Japanese import threw 108 pitches and was in total control.

“My fastball was good,” said Matsuzaka. “So, I think Tek ( Jason Varitek) had an easier time calling the game. I was able to attack the batters really well. I always want to minimize wasted pitches out there, and it’s something I’ll continue to work on. Even though it was a tough game, we got the win, and that’s what matters.”

When he left the game after 7 1/3 innings, Matsuzaka had held the Twins scoreless and allowed only six hits. However, he left Okajima with two inherited runners, and the lefty reliever issued a walk to load the bases.

Fortunately for the Sox, he got out of it.

Okajima got pinch-hitter Craig Monroe to pop up to first baseman Kevin Youkilis in foul territory and Delmon Young to ground out to second to end the threat and the inning.

When Okajima walked off the field, every Red Sox player in the dugout greeted him with high-fives.

“What he has done for us in the past, coming in and finishing an inning, and even going back out for another inning, was such a valuable weapon in our bullpen,” said Francona. “For him to get out of that inning was big for him. You could see the energy in the ballpark and in our dugout pick up after that.”

As good as Matsuzaka was, Twins starter Scott Baker was just as impressive. He worked seven scoreless innings and allowed only five hits, with two walks and seven strikeouts. Minnesota reliever Brian Bass entered in the eighth inning and surrendered a first-pitch double to Pedroia.

J.D. Drew grounded out to second, but was able to move the runner to third. Ramirez, who has been struggling at the plate of late, provided the Sox’ only run of the game when he slapped a hard single through the right side of the drawn-in infield.

Papelbon closed it out the ninth for his 26th save of the season, retiring the side in order.

Not to be forgotten for the Red Sox last night was their team defense. There were plenty of plays when they flashed the leather, allowing the pitching staff to remain in control.

“If it wasn’t, I’m up here making some reason why we didn’t hit or didn’t do enough because we did some really good things (defensively),” said Francona. “We did some good things. You throw up a zero for nine innings, a lot of people are doing a lot of good things.”

jmcdonal@projo.com