BOSTON — Lost in the excitement surrounding the boom-boom-boom-boom of the Red Sox bats, producing four consecutive homers in the third inning and five for the game, was the fact that Daisuke Matsuzaka made his first appearance against the rival New York Yankees.

The right-hander got the win, but he was hardly brilliant.

There were times when he was dominant, such as fanning Bobby Abreu in three straight at-bats, clearly confusing the Yankee right fielder, who had no idea which pitch Dice-K was going to throw him when he was in a two-strike hole.

He also had his moments with Alex Rodriguez, fanning the red-hot New York third baseman twice, again seemingly fooling him with pitch selection.

But there also were times when Matsuzaka was simply ordinary. Overall, Dice-K allowed six runs on eight hits in seven-plus innings, inflating his earned-run average to 4.00 after his first four big-league starts.

"Part of it is facing that lineup," said manager Terry Francona. "He got us into the eighth. We know he’s going to compete and battle. I thought he rushed a little bit at times which affected his command. But he got us into the eighth with a lead (7-5). We’ll take it."

Playing tall

Dustin Pedroia is short. The second baseman is listed at 5-foot-9 in the media guide, but that’s a stretch.

Last night, he was just a tad too short to catch Jason Giambi’s blooper in the third, the ball ticking off the end of his glove for an RBI single. He also didn’t have the "ups" to pull down A-Rod’s liner in the eighth inning.

But maybe the fact he’s short, built low to the ground, turned into a big advantage for the Sox later in the eighth.

With runners at first and third with two outs and Boston clinging to a 7-6 lead, Pedroia took a choppy step or two to his right, reached down and made a diving grab of a seed sizzled by pinch hitter Josh Phelps, preserving the advantage.

"I was just looking at what pitch was going to be thrown and I kind of cheated up the middle. He hit it really hard. And I just got there on time," said Pedroia.

From third base, Mike Lowell didn’t know if Pedroia would get it.

"I held my breath," said Lowell. "Phelps hit that ball really well. That was tremendous play."

"That play he made," added Francona, "that was just willing (himself) to win a ballgame."

Pedroia also showed some life at the plate. He went 2-for-4, including a double, snapping out of a 1-for-28 drought.

Another dominating performance

Once again, Jonathan Papelbon nailed down a save, his sixth of the season and fourth in the last five games.

And this one ended in the highest drama possible, with the Sox’ flame-thrower challenging the hottest hitter in the game, A-Rod.

Papelbon won this matchup. Rodriguez bounced an 0-and-2 pitch to Lowell at third, who threw to second for the game-ending force play.

Papelbon threw 20 pitches last night, including four splitters and one slider. The slider came on the first pitch to A-Rod, badly fooling him and putting him in a hole.

Over the four games, Papelbon threw 85 pitches, making it unlikely he’ll pitch tonight when the Blue Jays invade Fenway Park for the start of a two-game series.

Lowell makes the difference

While the four straight homers claimed one of the spotlights last night, it was another homer, Lowell’s three-run shot in the seventh, that ultimately provided the margin of victory for Boston.

The ball barely cleared the wall with runners at second and third and the Sox trailing, 5-4.

"I knew when I hit it that we were at least tied," said Lowell. "I didn’t know if it was going out. But it made it by about eight inches. That was another good feeling (along with being part of the four-in-a-row gang.

Crisp ailing

Coco Crisp was scratched from the starting lineup because of tightness in his left oblique.

But Crisp entered the game in the eighth, as a defensive replacement for Wily Mo Pena.

Yankee catcher Jorge Posada also was on the bench when the game began because of a bruised left thumb. He thought another 24 hours would improve his thumb. He said he’d be able to hit before he’d be able to catch.

So last night, with the Yanks rallying in the eighth, manager Joe Torre sent him up as a pinch hitter. Posada worked a walk.

Damon back in lineup

New York Yankees center fielder Johnny Damon was back in the starting lineup last night after taking most of Saturday’s game off (he served as a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning) due to a sore back. The former Red Sox cult figure is known for his ability to play through bumps and bruises, but he’s been spending a little more time in the trainer’s room these days.

He may get a little bit of a break coming up as Hideki Matsui is scheduled to return to the Yankees lineup tomorrow.

skrasner@projo.com