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Major League Baseball thriller in Tokyo Dome: Red Sox win

Other News Materials 25 March 2008 18:32 (UTC +04:00)

( dpa ) - Major League Baseball (MLB) opened its 2008 season Tuesday in the Tokyo Dome, with World Series champions Boston Red Sox downing the Oakland Athletics in a come-from-behind thriller, 6- 5, in extra innings.

The Red Sox heroes were Brandon Moss and Manny Ramirez, along with Japanese pitcher Hideki Okajima who got the victory in relief in a see-saw battle which saw the lead change hands several times before a sellout crowd of over 55,000 in Tokyo Dome.

Moss hit a solo home run in Boston's ninth inning to tie the score at 4-4 and send the game into extra innings. Ramirez then hit a two- round double in the 10th inning to give Boston a 6-4 lead.

Oakland got a run in the bottom of the 10th, but Boston held on to secure the 6-5 victory.

The game was a special occasion for the Japanese baseball fans who got a chance to see superstar pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka - formerly of the Japan league's Seibu Lions - start the game for Boston. "Dice-K" - as American fans have dubbed him - posted a 14-10 win-loss record for Boston in his first season last year.

But Matsusaka got off to a rocky start on Tuesday, giving up two runs against Oakland in the first inning, including a solo home run by Mark Ellis. The A's held on to that lead until the 6th inning, when Boston scored 3 runs to go up 3-2.

But Oakland stormed right back, scoring twice in the bottom of the inning to go back on top, 4-3.

The 4-3 edge held up until the final inning, when Moss launched his home run shot to tie the score, setting the stage for Ramirez' heroics in the next inning to give Boston the lead again and for Okajima then to win the game as the Red Sox' relief pitcher.

Boston and Oakland will play a further game on Wednesday in Tokyo before both teams fly back to the United States as the new MLB season gets underway.

MLB several years ago began staging its opening games in foreign venues, underscoring the increasingly international aspect of the league, which now features dozens of star players from Japan, Taiwan, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Australia, and other countries.

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