Pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka raised his record to 6-0 last night, beating the Twins.

AP / Jim Mone

MINNEAPOLIS — One of the great things about watching a major-league baseball game is there is always a chance you might see something you’ve never seen before. Or something you rarely see.

So it was with the Boston Red Sox last night in their 5-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins at the Metrodome.

Jed Lowrie, who might be a roster casualty when Alex Cora is activated today, lofted the first home run of his budding big-league career, a solo shot that snapped a 2-2 in the seventh inning at the expense of Minnesota starter Glen Perkins. Lowrie, batting ninth, was only in the lineup because Julio Lugo (mild concussion) was scratched.

Lowrie’s homer made it back-to-back jacks, combining with another lesser light on the power scale, Coco Crisp, for the consecutive-homer act.

Crisp notched his first of the year, and only the 15th of his two-plus-years career in Boston. He pulled the Sox even at 2-2 with what he said was the longest blast of his career, a clout that traveled an estimated 392 feet before landing among the crowd in the left-field seats.

And then there was the rarest of feats — a quick and efficient outing from Daisuke Matsuzaka. Dice-K improved his record to 6-0 though his earned-run average inched up a tad, to 2.45, still fourth-best in the American League, after his seven-inning, 96-pitch outing.

There also were a couple of sights that aren’t so unusual, especially lately, but were welcome nonetheless. Those were solo homers by Kevin Youkilis (second inning) and Mike Lowell (eighth). Youkilis has six homers in his last seven games and Lowell has gone deep three times in the six games on the trip.

Jonathan Papelbon, meanwhile, rebounded after a pair of blown saves over a three-day period, including one the previous night against the Twins, Armed with a three-run lead, thanks to Dustin Pedroia’s RBI single in the ninth, Papelbon made his way through Minnesota’s lineup for his 11th save.

He even rediscovered his strikeout pitch. The right-hander, who had fanned only one of his previous 25 batters, punched out Jason Kubel, the first batter he faced, on a more typically nasty splitter than what he has been throwing lately. And he punctuated his effort with a whiff of pinch-hitter Craig Monroe.

The most impressive performance, though, belonged to Matsuzaka.

Dice-K tends to labor through games, running his pitch count up early, resulting in abbreviated outings.

Not last night. Matsuzaka cruised through his seven innings, tying for his longest outing of the year. He allowed only two runs on six hits. His control was sharp, though one of the three walks he issued came with the bases filled, forcing in a run in the second.

Otherwise, the only run the Twins exacted at the Matsuzaka’s expense came in the fifth on a double by Matt Tolbert and a single by Justin Morneau, giving Minnesota a 2-1 advantage. “Against a really aggressive hitting team like the Twins, as the game progressed it seemed he got into a flow and came out of his delivery only a few times,” said manager Terry Francona. “He got a couple of one-pitch outs.”

Catcher Jason Varitek also noticed that Matsuzaka looked better and better as the game progressed.

“It took him a while to get into it, but he was able to keep himself out of trouble early,” said Varitek. “He mixed his pitches, but he actually located the ball well when he had runners on base.”

Matsuzaka’s performance last night followed a five-inning, 109-pitch struggle in Detroit in which he still was trying to get over the effects of the flu.

“I wasn’t feeling 100 percent [last night], but I was able to pitch through it,” said Matsuzaka. “Obviously there was a difference from my previous start. The difference was my feel for the ball. It’s hard to put it into words, but if I have the same feel for the ball going forward those are the types of results you can expect.”

skrasner@projo.com