Tough try for NorthAmerican's fans of baseball with this official start in Japan at this hour.Anyway the interest remain bigger and everybody is ready to cheer for Red sox for this start with their naturalised pitcher. They are defending their title under the roof of Tokyo Dome against the Oakland Athletics

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Daisuke Matsuzaka (15-12, 4.40 ERA in 2007)

Matsuzaka returns to his homeland to become just the second native of Japan to start a season opener. Hideo Nomo started the 2000 opener for Detroit and the 2003 and '04 openers for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Matsuzaka also becomes just the second pitcher ever to start a season opener in his home country outside the United States. Canadian Ryan Dempster started for the Marlins in Montreal on April 2, 2002.

Oakland with : RHP Joe Blanton (14-10, 3.95 ERA in 2007)

The right-hander gets his first start of the regular season after posting an 0-1 mark in four Cactus League starts for the A's. In 17 innings, he allowed 19 hits and nine earned runs for a 4.76 ERA. Blanton has recorded double figures in wins in each of his first three full seasons with Oakland, winning 12, 16 and 14, respectively, from 2005 through last season.

Off course,statistics are collected from the official MLB web site.

Pick : 2
Odds : 1.62
Stake : 10 / 10
Bookmaker : Gamebookers
Date : 2008-03-25
Match Result : 5-6
Tipster Personal Link/Sponsor: http://www.102bet.com

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