Matsuzaka Helps Red Sox Clinch AL Wild Card Spot

Daisuke Matsuzaka tuned up for the postseason with his fourth straight strong performance and the Boston Red Sox sent the Cleveland Indians to a club-record 13th straight road loss with a 6-2 win Friday night.

Matsuzaka (4-6) allowed two earned runs on five hits in six innings, continuing his surge that began when he pitched on Sept. 15 after nearly three months on the disabled list. He struck out seven and walked three.

He was 1-5 when he was sidelined with a minor right shoulder strain and 3-1 since then. His ERA in those four starts is 2.22, lowering his season mark from 8.23 to 5.76.

The Red Sox clinched the AL wild-card berth Tuesday night and are expected to use Jon Lester and Josh Beckett in the first two games of the AL division series against the Los Angeles Angels next week. The exact order hasn’t been announced. Matsuzaka and Clay Buchholz are possible starters for Game 3.

Jeremy Sowers (6-11) left after three innings trailing 4-0. The Indians scored twice in the fifth but broke the club record for consecutive road losses set in 1963 and tied in 1991.

The win was Boston’s second straight over Cleveland after six consecutive losses — three to both the New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays

The Red Sox took a 1-0 lead before making an out as Jacoby Ellsbury led off the first with a double, took third on his 69th stolen base of the year and kept going when catcher Kelly Shoppach’s throw went into left field for an error.

They added three runs in the third when Jason Varitek hit a leadoff double, Alex Gonzalez was hit by a pitch and Ellsbury walked, loading the bases. Dustin Pedroia followed with a sacrifice fly, Victor Martinez singled in a run and Jason Bay doubled home another.

Martinez hit in his 28th straight start and is batting .358 in that stretch. He broke a tie with Seattle’s Ichiro Suzuki for the most consecutive starts with at least one hit in the AL this year. It’s the longest Red Sox streak since Johnny Damon hit in 29 straight starts in 2005.

Kevin Youkilis’ two-run double in the seventh made it 6-2.

Matsuzaka began the game by giving up a double to Michael Brantley. Then he retired the next 12 batters.

But he struggled through the fifth when Travis Hafner doubled, took third on a wild pitch and scored on Luis Valbuena’s one-out single. Valbuena stole second and, after Shoppach walked, scored on Trevor Crowe’s single.

Notes: Cleveland has scored three runs or less in 11 of its last 19 games. … Boston RF Rocco Baldelli strained a left hip flexor when he reached first on a throwing error by third baseman Jhonny Peralta. Josh Reddick pinch ran and replaced him in the field. … Baldelli started in place of J.D. Drew, who missed his second straight game with a sore shoulder.

10/2/2009 10:43 PM HOWARD ULMAN, AP Sports Writer BOSTON