Red Sox crush Blue Jays

Matsuzaka, whom the Red Sox signed to a six-year, $52 million contract, struck out eight to rebound from a poor game last week in which he gave up five runs in the first inning.

The right-hander allowed five hits and one run in improving to 4-2.

"I made a few technical adjustments heading into the game and I think it's too early to tell if that made all of the difference," Matsuzaka said.

Boston catcher Jason Varitek said, however, he noticed a big change.

"It was 10-fold better than his last [start]," Varitek said.

Matsuzaka had given up 17 runs in 16 innings before Wednesday's game, but he was much more effective after working on his mechanical flaws during practice.

"Dice-K pitched very well," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "He executed all of his pitches very, very well. It was exciting to watch that."

With Tomo Ohka starting for the Blue Jays, the game produced only the fourth Major League matchup between Japanese pitchers.

But it quickly became a Matsuzaka and Boston show as the Red Sox took a 6-0 lead on Ramirez's sixth-inning home run to hand the Blue Jays their eighth straight loss.

The homer was one of four for the Red Sox.

David Ortiz had four hits, including an eighth-inning homer, with Mike Lowell and Julio Lugo also homering.

The New York Yankees gave Mike Mussina all the support he needed with a four-run first inning in a 6-2 home win over the Texas Rangers. Derek Jeter drove in three runs on two singles for the Yankees. Mussina pitched six innings, giving up three hits and two runs over six innings.

Jose Guillen's three-run homer in the fourth inning helped the Seattle Mariners end the Detroit Tigers' eight-game winning streak with a 9-2 victory in Detroit.

Aubrey Huff's 10th-inning home run gave the Baltimore Orioles a 1-0 home win over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Mike Sweeney homered in the eighth inning to give the Kansas City Royals a 3-2 home win over the Oakland Athletics which ended a four-game losing streak.