"The threat of another long rain had dissipated before the national anthem, but it appeared Red Sox starter Daisuke Matsuzaka was destined for an early shower in yesterday's 9-5 victory over the Minnesota Twins at Fenway Park.

Matsuzaka regrouped after a lengthy effort in the top of the first to capture his third win in his last four starts. Matsuzaka improved to 3-3 with a 4.64 ERA, including 3-1 with a 2.42 ERA over his last five starts. The right-hander threw six innings yesterday and allowed four earned runs on five hits with two walks, three strikeouts and a solo home run in the fourth. He threw 102 pitches, 34 in the first inning, with 62 for strikes.

"The first inning he gives up three," said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. "After that, it's let's hold them down and see if we can jump back in it and that's what happened.

"He put up a couple of zeros and we had the four-run third and suddenly it's a different game. He came off a little bit of a layoff, and we are certainly aware of guys exerting themselves in long innings. That means a lot too, more than the amount of pitches at the end of the day. But he settled down for a few innings and walked only two."

Matsuzaka is a methodical pitcher under ideal situations and he slowed his mound routine to a crawl when the Twins delivered three runs in the first. Center fielder Denard Span opened the frame with a single to left and stole second after escaping two pickoff attempts by Matsuzaka. Shortstop Trevor Plouffe followed with a walk before Matsuzaka struck out Justin Morneau.

Designated hitter Jason Kubel singled to right scoring Span while Plouffe went to second. The runners advanced when Michael Cuddyer grounded to third. Danny Valencia worked the count before driving a hard grounder over second base that made it 3-0. Matsuzaka got Ben Revere on a pop foul to third to end the inning."