Bartolo Colon, an improbable contender for the fifth spot in the Sox starting rotation before the end of April, breezed through the first three innings. He struck out four batters in the first two innings, including Andre Ethier, the Dodgers' hottest hitter, on three pitches in the first. With two outs and nobody on in the second, Colon dropped a flip from first baseman Kevin Youkilis, James Loney reaching on Colon's error, but he struck out Matt Kemp to end the inning. In the third, Rafael Furcal smacked a two-out single through the left side, but Russell Martin tapped out to end the inning.

The Dodgers reached Colon for a run in the fourth. Ethier doubled to right and Jeff Kent followed with a double to right-center, Ethier scoring. Colon retired Andruw Jones on a fly to left and Loney on a roller to second, Kent advancing to third, before walking Kemp. Kemp stole second, but Juan Pierre grounded out.

The Sox, meanwhile, could do little with Chad Billingsley, who had six whiffs in the first three innings, including Jason Varitek twice. Counting the two regular-season games in Japan, Varitek had now whiffed in eight of his last nine at-bats. David Ortiz and Kevin Youkilis, who both walked, were the only Sox base-runners through the first four innings. Jacoby Ellsbury grounded a one-out single through the left side in the fifth, and after Crisp walked, Julio Lugo singled to right, loading the bases for Julio Lugo.