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Final Score: Boston 2 - Oakland 1

Oakland, CA (Sports Network) - Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched brilliantly into the seventh inning, and Jason Varitek's run-scoring double in the sixth proved to be the difference as Boston edged Oakland, 2-1, as the two teams resumed their season-opening series with the first of two games at McAfee Coliseum.

Boston and Oakland lifted the lid on the 2008 campaign over in Japan with a two-game series last week. The Red Sox won the first game in extra innings, while the A's exacted a measure of revenge in the finale to earn the split at the Tokyo Dome.

Matsuzaka (1-0), who also started the opener for the Red Sox on March 25, allowed just one run on two hits, while fanning nine in 6 2/3 innings for the Red Sox. Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon combined to hurl 2 1/3 scoreless innings of relief to finish things. Papelbon, who struck out the side in the ninth. earned his second save on the young season.

Kevin Youkilis finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored for Boston.

Jack Cust's second-inning home run was the only offense for the Athletics, who managed just three hits in the game. Joe Blanton (0-1) surrendered just two runs on seven hits in six innings and was the hard-luck loser.

Down 1-0, Boston finally got on the board and evened things in the fifth. Youkilis singled to right and advanced into scoring position on Julio Lugo's two-out infield single. Jacoby Ellsbury then came through with an RBI single to knot the game.

The Red Sox then went on top in the sixth. After Youkilis got on with a two- out triple, Varitek blasted a Blanton pitch deep to right-center. The ball looked like it cleared the yellow line that signifies a home run but after discussing the issue, the umpires ruled that it wasn't a homer and Varitek was forced to settle for an RBI double.

Losing the extra run didn't bother the BoSox as Okajima and Papelbon helped nail down the win.

The A's took an early lead in the second when Cust blasted a leadoff homer off Matsuzaka over the wall in left.