Ho hum. Just another day in Boston, another Red Sox win. I don’t know about you. But I could get used to this. Anyways, I am digressing from the facts at hand.

Mike Lowell was 4 for 5 with 5 RBI’s and Daisuke Matsuzaka was effective for 8 innings as the Red Sox annihilated the Atlanta Braves in Game 1 today, 13-3.

Matsuzaka looked strong for the third straight outing and has not lost in over a month, dating back to April 17th in Toronto. He had allowed 5 singles in the first 6 innings before the Braves struck for 3 in the 7th. Chipper Jones hit a double and came home on a Jarrod Saltalamacchia single. Jeff Francoeur then took Dice-K deep to get the Braves within 9 runs at 12-3.

I was listening to the game on the radio on my way to my parents lakehouse and Dave O’Brien of the Red Sox radio network said that the Red Sox needed to get to Braves starter Anthony Lerew early. Well Julio Lugo must have been listening because he put the third pitch he saw out of the ballpark to make it 1-0 Sox.

The Sox struck for two more runs in the 2nd inning. Coco Crisp lead off the inning with a single and was retired on a Dustin Pedroia fielder’s choice. Lugo flew out to center field then Kevin Youkilis took a Lerew offering out of the ballpark to centerfield to put the Sox up 3-0.

Oscar Villarreal came into relieve Lerew and allowed a walk to Crisp and a double to Lowell in his one inning of work. He was basically a stop gap for an inning while Mark Redman was warming up. Redman was called up today by the Braves in case of their starters struggled.

After pitching a 1-2-3 inning in the 4th, Redman came unglued in the 5th. David “Big Papi” Ortiz lead off with a single. Manny followed him with a single. J.D. Drew, making his return to the lineup after crashing in the wall on Tuesday, hit a single to right field loading up the bases for Lowell. On only the 14th pitch of the inning for Redman, he served up a nice grand salami to Mike Lowell making it 7-0 Sox.

The 6th inning was no better for Chad Paronto and the Braves. Big Papi lead off the inning with a double and advanced to third on a Manny fly out. J.D. drew a walk. Lowell then hit a single to drive in Big Papi making it 8-0. Paronto got Varitek to fly out then Coco hit a double that scored Drew and Lowell making it 10-0. Dustin Pedroia had an infield single and advanced to second on an Edgar Renteria error. Big surprise another error for Renteria at Fenway. Lugo then laced a double to the gap in center that scored Crisp and Pedroia ending the day for Atlanta’s sacrificial lamb, Paronto.

Wily Mo Peña, who was in for Manny, then hit a shot over the Green Monster that I think is still traveling. The ball actually landed on the parking garage across the street.

All in all, the Red Sox battered the Braves 6 pitchers for 18 hits. Lowell led the way with 4 hits, only a triple short of the cycle. Big Papi chipped in with 3 hits of his own. Every Sox starter had a hit except for Varitek. Eric Hinske also didn’t have a hit in his one at-bat.

Dice-K went 8 innings, gave up 9 hits, 3 runs, walked no one and struck out 6. He looked good again except for the fact that he still doesn’t have full command of his changeup. Can you only imagine if he masters that pitch too.

Next up for the Sox is game 2 tonight at 7:35. Same announcers, same bat channel. Til then, may the schwartz be with you.