CLEVELAND — There are pitching matchups and there are pitching duels.

Jacobs Field was the setting last night for a good old-fashioned duel between Boston’s Daisuke Matsuzaka and Cleveland’s C.C. Sabathia, and in the end it was the Red Sox who came away with a 1-0 victory. Dice-K led the way as Boston won its fifth straight to equal its longest winning streak of the season.

Matsuzaka worked seven solid innings, allowing four hits with three walks while striking out five. Sabathia was nearly as strong, also working seven but giving up the one run and striking out seven.

“That’s a good lineup,” said Boston manager Terry Francona. “That’s a major-league game pitched by both guys. You’re not going to see too many 1-0 games here against that lineup.”

Francona said Matsuzaka’s curveball and cutter were extremely sharp last night.

“I’m grateful for the one run my teammates were able to score, and that obviously made the difference,” said Matsuzaka through a translator. “Since we’ve won a lot of games in a row coming in, I’m very glad I didn’t stop the winning streak.”

The Sox’ defense also was spectacular last night. In fact, every position player made at least one difficult play look routine.

“There’s not a play in a 1-0 game that’s not big,” said Francona. “You have to make every one in a game like that.”

With both opposing starting pitchers locked in, Boston was able to push a run across in the top of the fourth inning when Mike Lowell’s two-out soft liner to left field dropped in, scoring Kevin Youkilis for the 1-0 advantage.

“When we scored that one run, at the time you don’t know if it’ll hold up,” said Francona. “It looked like [Cleveland left fielder Ben Francisco] broke back a step, and fortunately it was one step enough because that’s all we had. Sabathia threw the ball great.”

With the Red Sox protecting a one-run lead in the bottom of the seventh inning, Francisco led off with a single to left field to set up a possible sacrifice bunt for Josh Barfield. He was able to get the bunt down, but Youkilis made a heads-up play, snaring the ball and getting the forceout at second. With two outs, Barfield stole second but was left stranded to preserve Boston’s lead.

“That was a great play,” said Francona. “That’s a play that not a lot of first basemen attempt, let alone make it. How do you know at the time what is going to be enough? That’s why you play a good defensive game, you get good pitching, the team looks crisp then you score one and it’s enough. It ended up being a good night.”

The Red Sox had a chance to add to its lead in the eighth when Julio Lugo provided a one-out double to left field only to be stranded. With the hit, he extended his streak to 14 games to tie a career-high.

Boston bullpen kingpins, Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon, kept the Cleveland bats at bay in the final two innings en route to victory. Okajima retired the side in order in the eighth and Papelbon did the same to earn his 23rd save of the season.

Matsuzaka said after the game he felt he was just finding his groove and wanted to continue, but Francona had other thoughts.

“By my own count I was not quite at 100 pitches,” said Matsuzaka. “I felt OK to continue to pitch in the eighth inning, but the manager came up to me and said, ‘Okajima and Papelbon would take it from here,’ and when you hear those names it’s tough to argue. My goal going forward is to continue to work hard and ease the burden on our great bullpen.”

Sabathia was attempting to win his 14th game of the season, while Matsuzaka improved to 12-7 in his first year in the majors.

His regimen is unique as he works harder before his start more than he does during an outing. Yesterday afternoon at The Jake, Matsuzaka made his way onto the field around 2:15 p.m. and threw a couple of shadow pitches on the mound before starting his lengthy running program. Francona said Dice-K is pretty consistent with his game-day routine.

After he was done running, the sweat was pouring from his forehead. It’s a routine you don’t see from the traditional major-league pitchers, who normally rest the day of a start.

“That’s something I wish would rub off on our culture,” said Francona of Dice-K’s routine.

jmcdonal@projo.com