Daisuke Matsuzaka took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning and the defending World Series champion Boston Red Sox played a little better in every way, beating the Tampa Bay Rays 2-0 Friday 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. Phillies 8, Dodgers 5: At Philadelphia, pitcher Brett Myers did better at the plate than on the mound, going 3-for-3 with three RBIs as Philadelphia beat Los Angeles for a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven National League championship series. Shane Victorino drove in four runs for the Phillies, who overcame another homer by Manny Ramirez. A grieving Charlie Manuel was in the dugout with the Phillies, hours after the manager's mother died. Players and coaches from both teams offered condolences before the game. Victorino made a vital catch with two on to end the seventh, and Brad Lidge hung on in the ninth for his second save of the series. He walked Ramirez and James Loney, then struck out Matt Kemp and Nomar Garciaparra to end it. The series shifts to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Saturday night, with 45-year-old Jamie Moyer pitching for Philadelphia against Hiroki Kuroda.
