Scott Audette / Reuters

Starting pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka, left, and the Red Sox are all smiles for good reason. Boston beat Tampa Bay 2-0 to win the opener of the ALCS on Friday.

Shields avoided further damage when Jason Varitek grounded to second and Jacoby Ellsbury popped to shortstop Bartlett, who made an over-the-head catch in shallow center field.

“I’m not discouraged in any way,” Maddon said. “We played well, and we just have to hit better tomorrow, that’s it.”

The Rays breezed into the ALCS by beating the White Sox in their first-ever playoff series, while the Red Sox are playing for the pennant for the fourth time in six years after beating the Angels in the other ALDS.

With fans clanging cowbells and standing and cheering every strike, Shields fanned Ellsbury to start the game, then quickly slipped into a tight spot when Dustin Pedroia walked on a 3-2 pitch and Youkilis hit a drive to right that landed just inside the line and bounced over a short fence in foul territory for a ground-rule double.

Pedroia, who would have scored easily if the ball had not gone into the stands, rounded third and headed home where plate umpire Tim McClelland waited a few feet up the line. Shields escaped by striking out Drew.

Matsuzaka, 18-3 overall, also got off to a shaky start, walking leadoff man Akinori Iwamura and two of the next four batters to load the bases with two outs.

Opponents were hitless in 14 at-bats against the right-hander with the bases loaded during the regular season, and he got out of another jam by retiring Floyd.

“He just missed on a few pitches,” Varitek said of the rocky first. “He did settle into his rhythm and found his arm slot more.”

Tampa Bay won the season series between the AL East rivals 10-8, including eight of nine at Tropicana Field.

The Red Sox were 7-2 against the Rays at Fenway Park. Both of Tampa Bay’s victories there came during a 10-day, confidence-building stretch in which the Rays took four of six from the World Series champions to hang onto first place.

Floyd, one of veterans brought in last winter to provide leadership in Tampa Bay’s clubhouse, expects the talented Rays to rebound.

“We’ve come back from much worse situations than this,” he said. “That’s a good team. You’ve got to make sure that you capitalize when you have chances. When you don’t, you’re going to settle into an unfortunate situation like this.”

Notes: Boston hasn’t lost on the road in the postseason since losing at Cleveland in Game 4 of the 2007 ALCS. ... Since becoming the second player in major league history to homer in his first two playoff at-bats, Longoria is 2-for-14 with eight strikeouts. One of those hits also came in Tampa Bay’s Game 1 victory over Chicago in the ALDS. ... Youkilis was 0-for-17 lifetime against Shields before his first-inning double.

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