Sox starter Daisuke Matsuzaka unleases a pitch in the first inning against the A’s last night.

The Providence Journal / Bob Breidenbach

OAKLAND -- In addition to the ban on crying, there are no do-overs in baseball. But Tuesday night, Daisuke Matsuzaka could dream.

"It's only something I can say in hindsight,'' Matsuzaka said after a masterful performance against the Oakland A's, "but it would have been nice to be able to pitch like this in Japan.''

"Like this'' meant: efficient, aggressive and in command. Matsuzaka was all of those things, limiting the A's to two hits in 6 2/3 innnings to earn a victory in the Red Sox' 2-1 triumph over the A's, their first meaningful game in almost a week.

In the actual season opener in Tokyo, Matsuzaka was erratic from the beginning, needing 60 pitches to record the first six outs. By the time he neared his pitch limit, he was only through five innings. Last night, by contrast, he located well from the start.

The only run against him came in the second when Jack Cust jumped on a first-pitch fastball and drove it out the other way. After that, Matsuzaka was nearly perfect, retiring 16 of the final 17 A's he faced.

Kurt Suzuki, who singled leading off the third, was the only other baserunner to reach against Matsuzaka, and Suzuki was subsequently erased when he was thrown out trying to steal.

"I thought he pitched with a lot of heart,'' said Terry Francona. "He made a lot of good pitches. He got into a nice rhythm. He was not trying to muscle up -- he was just hitting his spots and letting his natural ability take over.''

"He hit his spots, was in-and-out and executed a lot of his pitches,'' said Mike Lowell of Matsuzaka.

Matsuzaka threw 96 pitches in 6 2/3 innings, or exactly one more than he needed to complete five innings last Tuesday in his native country.

"He looked like he had a real good feel for where the ball was going,'' said first baseman Kevin Youkilis, who contributed three hits in support. "When he has that, he does great things.''

As effective as Matsuzaka was, the Sox didn't provide him with any backing until the fifth against Oakland's Joe Blanton.

A two-out single from Jacoby Ellsbury scored Youkilis from second, but just barely. A strong throw from Travis Buck in right beat Youkilis to the plate, but Youkilis managed to slide under Suzuki's attempt at a sweep tag.

Youkilis was in the middle of things in the sixth, when the Sox took the lead for good.

He banged a two-out triple off the scoreboard in left, then rode home when Jason Varitek smoked a double to right.

Replays indicated that Varitek's ball cleared the yellow line above the scoreboard in right, but the umpiring crew ruled otherwise and the Sox' catcher had to be satisfied with a two-base hit. After an 0-for-8 performance in Japan with six strikeouts, the captain wasn't complaining.

Francona was, but his effort went for naught.

"The way Wally (Bell, home-plate umpire and crew chief) explained it was, they have to be sure to overturn something,'' said Francona. "That was a tough one. It was hard. It would have been nice to get the extra run, but it was enough for the win.''

Matsuzaka had retired 13 hitters in a row, but with the left-handed hitting Cust due, Francona summoned Hideki Okajima from the bullpen. The lefty walked Cust, but then got Emil Brown on an infield pop-up.

With a runner on base and righthanded pinch-hitter Mike Sweeney coming to the plate in the eighth, Francona called on closer Jonathan Papelbon for a four-out save. Papelbon got Sweeney on a fielder's choice, then struck out the side in the ninth for his second save.

smcadam@projo.com