Dice-K helps Bosox blank Rays in ALCS opener

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Unhittable most of the game, Daisuke Matsuzaka and the Boston Red Sox taught Tampa Bay all about dominant postseason pitching.

Matsuzaka took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning and the defending World Series champions played a little better in every way, beating the Rays 2-0 Friday night in the opener of the AL championship series.

Jed Lowrie snapped a scoreless tie with a sacrifice fly and Kevin Youkilis drove home another run with a seventh-inning double off left fielder Carl Crawford’s glove as the playoff-savvy Red Sox beat baseball’s best home team on its own turf.

Jonathan Papelbon closed out Boston’s team-record sixth straight postseason road win. Now the upstart Rays, who held off Boston for the AL East title, are the ones doing the chasing.

Game 2 is Saturday night at Tropicana Field.

Crawford singled leading off the seventh for Tampa Bay’s first hit and raced to third when Cliff Floyd followed with a single. But Dice-K, who was unbeaten on the road this season, was equal to the task.

Dioner Navarro flied to shallow left, Matsuzaka fanned Gabe Gross for the last of his nine strikeouts and Jason Bartlett grounded into a force play to end the threat.

The Rays, who thrived on timely hitting in winning a franchise-record 97 games this season, missed another opportunity in the eighth after Matsuzaka gave up two more singles.

Hideki Okajima relieved and Carlos Pena flied out on a 3-0 pitch. Justin Masterson took over and got All-Star rookie Evan Longoria to ground into a double play.

Jonathan Papelbon pitched the ninth for Boston, extending his career postseason scoreless streak to 20 2/3 innings over 13 appearances.

The Rays finished 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position. They wasted a big chance in the first, too, after Matsuzaka walked the bases loaded.

Much was made before the best-of-seven series about previous scuffles between the teams, a history both sides tried to play down. But the opener did turn a bit testy in the eighth inning when Grant Balfour hit J.D. Drew in the right shoulder with a high fastball, prompting a few Red Sox to holler from the bench.

The Red Sox snapped a scoreless tie in the fifth.

Jason Bay drew a leadoff walk in the fifth and went to third when Mark Kotsay doubled down the left-field line for the third hit off James Shields, who also started Game 1 for Tampa Bay in its first-round playoff series against the Chicago White Sox.

Lowrie, who drove in the winning run with a ninth-inning single in Boston’s division series-clinching victory over the Los Angeles Angels, followed with a sacrifice fly.

Shields avoided further damage when Jason Varitek grounded to second and Jacoby Ellsbury popped to shortstop Jason Bartlett, who made an over-the-head catch in shallow center field.

The Rays breezed into the ALCS by beating the White Sox in their first-ever playoff series, while the Red Sox are playing for the pennant for the fourth time in six years after beating the Angels in the other ALDS.

With fans clanging cowbells and standing and cheering every strike, Shields fanned Ellsbury to start the game, then quickly slipped into a tight spot when Dustin Pedroia walked on a 3-2 pitch and Youkilis hit a drive to right field that landed just inside the line and bounced over a short fence in foul territory for a ground-rule double.

Pedroia, who would have scored easily if the ball had not gone into the stands, rounded third and headed home where plate umpire Tim McClelland waited a few feet up the line. Shields escaped by striking out Drew.

Matsuzaka, 18-3 overall, also got off to a shaky start, walking leadoff man Akinori Iwamura and two of the next four batters to load the bases with two outs.

Opponents were hitless in 14 at-bats against the right-hander during the regular season, and he got out of another jam by retiring Floyd.

Tampa Bay won the season series between the AL East rivals 10-8, including eight of nine at Tropicana Field.

The Red Sox were 7-2 against the Rays at Fenway Park, although both of Tampa Bay’s victories there came during a 10-day confidence-building stretch in which the Rays took four of six games from the World Series champions to hang on to first place.