The Red Sox’ Dustin Pedroia watches the flight of the ball on his leadoff home run in the first inning off the Rockies’ Jeff Francis in the World Series opener last night at Fenway Park.

The Providence Journal / Glenn Osmundson

BOSTON — The Red Sox went into last night needing to make a statement.

They had to, whether they knew it or not, because winning Game One of the World Series — and gaining quick momentum — is historically a good thing.

A very good thing.

The team that has won Game One of the World Series has gone on to win the championship 62 times in 102 tries (60.78 percent), including 9 of the last 10. So those are pretty good odds.

And now those good odds are in the Red Sox’ favor. Josh Beckett continued his October dominance, improving his 2007 postseason record to 4-0 with seven strong innings and Dustin Pedroia jump-started the attack with a leadoff homer in the bottom of the first as the Sox crushed Colorado, 13-1.

The Sox downplayed the importance of it all, saying it was only just one victory. “We’re smart enough to know that [tonight’s] game ahead of us is all that matters,” cautioned manager Terry Francona.

But what a victory it was.

Beckett, who has quickly become a playoff wizard, was clearly pumped up again last night as he struck out the side in order in the top of the first inning. His fastball has some serious movement on it, and he was reaching 97 mph on the radar gun from the get-go. He wound up scattering six hits over seven innings with one walk and nine strikeouts.

“It was a lot different circumstances [than previous postseason starts] because of the big lead, but he was good. He was good,” said catcher Jason Varitek. “He had a long time between innings, but he did what he needed to do to keep the game where it was.”

“He’s been huge for us,” said Francona. “And to win, you have to have guys like that.”

Pedroia continues to be a destroyer at the plate for the Red Sox as he belted a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the first and give Boston the early lead. The 0-and-1 delivery from Colorado starter Jeff Francis was deposited onto the top of the Green Monster.

Youkilis followed with a double and was driven home by a Manny Ramirez single before J.D. Drew provided a two-out RBI single later in the inning for a 3-0 advantage.

With that three-run cushion, Beckett was able to settle in, and he definitely turned it up a notch.

It was only a week ago that the Rockies were the hottest team in baseball, winning 21 of 22 games. They breezed through the postseason and then had to wait until last night to play their first game in eight days. With Colorado’s performance last night, it was clear the layoff had an effect on the N.L. pennant winner.

Meanwhile, the Red Sox began to build momentum in Game Five of the ALCS, and proved last night that they clearly have the edge.

Beckett continued his dominance in the second, but did allow a run on two hits as Boston increased its two-run lead in the bottom half of the inning when David Ortiz provided an opposite-field RBI double to give the Red Sox a 4-1 advantage.

Boston scored two more runs in the fourth inning, thanks to a two-run double by Varitek, for a 6-1 lead.

And then, in the fifth inning, a one-sided game became an embarrassment, as the Sox torched three Rockies relievers for seven runs — three of them scoring on two-out, bases loaded walks issued by Ryan Speier — and built their lead into double digits.

And now it’s on to Game Two.

“That’s a good team over there,” Youkilis said of the Rockies. “We know we’re going to have to come out and play hard [tonight].”

“We did a good job,” said Francona. “But now we’ll put it behind us and go onto [tonight].”

jmcdonal@projo.com