Dice goes to 7-0 thanks to Big Papi's big blast

Sox 5, Milwaukee 3
WP: Matsuzaka (7-0)
LP: Suppan (2-3)
SV: Papelbon (12)
HRs: BOS-Ortiz (8); MIL-Cameron (4), Braun (11)

SUMMARY:
Daisuke Matsuzaka had one of his best outings of the year, limiting the Brewers to 7 hits and a pair of runs in 6 2/3 innings of work, and David Ortiz provided all the run support Boston would need when he slammed a 3-run, opposite field homer over the Monster in the second inning to propel the Sox to the win.

SUPERSTAR: Ortiz 2-2, 2R, 3BI, 2BB, HR
Ortiz' early blast set the tempo for the day and got the team off on the right foot following 2 1/2 days of inactivity. Papi was on base four times, raising his average to .244 and OBP to .353, and knocked in his 30th, 31st and 32nd runs of the year.

In other words, Here. Comes. Papi.

THE BIGGEST LOSER: Jeff Suppan 6IP, 9H, 4ER, 2BB, 1K, HR
The former Sox draft pick settled down after a rocky first couple of innings, but unfortunately it was the runs he gave up in those couple of innings that cost his team the game.

RECAP:
Game 1 is done and thankfully the boys started the day out in style.

Because the last thing you want is a lousy loss in the opener of a doubleheader, especially when the team has to turn right back around and play the next game in an hour and a half.

Actually the last thing you would want is extra innings in the opener, but thankfully the baseball gods decided not to subject us to that.

We in the Nation can also be thankful for the combo of Daisuke Matsuzaka and David Ortiz, as it was those two studs who led the team out of the doldrums of a 4-game losing skid and back to the promised land of a potential winning streak.

After the Sox handed him a 4-0 lead after two innings, the first run scoring on a bases loaded walk to JD Drew in the 1st and the next three on Papi's Monster shot in the 2nd, Matsuzaka made it hold up despite facing a couple of game-changing situations in the next few innings.

In the 5th inning the Brewers loaded the bases with two outs on a single, hit batter and a walk, but Dice got Mike Cameron to fly out to center to end the threat. And in the 6th inning Ryan Braun (3-5, 1R, 1BI) led off with a single and then Prince Fielder moved him to third with a double before Matsuzaka retired the next three hitters, two by strikeout, to nip that bid in the bud.

But in the 7th Dice-K finally cracked and allowed a pair of runs, both scoring after two were out when Ricky Weeks reached on an error by Kevin Youkilis at third (yes, you read that right) and then Cameron belted a two-run bomb to cut the Sox lead to 4-2.

It was Youk's first error at any position since last July 25th, but his errorless streak at first base still stands at 222 games.

That would be all for Dice-K, but luckily the Boston bully made the lead hold up, and when Jacoby Ellsbury (2-5, R, BI) doubled in Jason Varitek, who had also doubled, in the 8th inning to push the lead to 5-2 it gave Papelbon one more run to work with for the save.

Good thing, too, because Paps gave the run right back when with two outs Braun turned on a fastball and launched it into the Monster seats to give the Brewers hope for a comeback, but Paps got some help when Alex Cora made a nice over the shoulder catch of a popper by Fielder to end the game, and Boston came away with a much-needed win.

Now it's time to catch a bite to eat, maybe a quick catnap, do a few stretches and get right back out there for game number two.

It's the kind of day that can only make Ernie Banks happy.

And maybe Little Leaguers.

RECORD: 25-19
AL EAST: 1GB
STREAK: W1
LAST 10: 4-6
UP NEXT: Tonight vs. MIL 8:30 Bush vs. Wakefield