There was no faulting the spirited way in which Matsuzaka and the Sox embraced the task at hand, edging the Mariners, 4-3, before 46,313 on a gorgeous night in the Pacific Northwest.
"Wins have been hard here," Sox manager Terry Francona said, stating the obvious.
Matsuzaka (13-8), who came out throwing 95-mile-per-hour BBs, struck out 10 for the third time this season and was at his defiant best when the Mariners were at their most threatening.
The Sox, meanwhile, took their cue from an energized Manny Ramírez, who sprinted from first to home on Jason Varitek's two-out, two-run double in the fourth, and cracked an RBI double when the Sox scored twice more in the sixth.
The Mariners scored a run in the eighth with three straight two-out hits off Eric Gagne. Jonathan Papelbon walked two in the ninth before Adrian Beltre popped to Varitek in foul territory for his 25th save. History may not have been at stake, but there was no shortage of drama.
"As a team, you know we haven't been able to win here," Matsuzaka said. "These couple of games we really want to win, and I'm very happy we were able to win tonight. And one day I hope to have my own moments of history."
This time, the high-fives that greeted Ramírez on his return to the Sox dugout were richly deserved.
"He played with good energy last night, maybe too much," Francona said in a wry allusion to Ramírez and Kevin Youkilis both winding up on third base Friday night. "[Ramírez has] been terrific all year. I've been telling that to everyone who asks."
Matsuzaka, meanwhile, left little doubt about what the stakes meant to him when he pounded his glove with gusto after the Sox turned a double play that took him out of a first-and-third, one-out jam in the fourth. For Matsuzaka, that display of emotion was akin to Papelbon pummeling his mitt in exultation, or Josh Beckett letting out a rebel yell.
