BOSTON — Daisuke Matsuzaka has been picked by the Boston Red Sox to open the AL championship series against the Tampa Bay Rays.

The 18-game winner will start Friday night in St. Petersburg, Fla., and will be followed in the rotation by 2003 World Series MVP Josh Beckett.

Jon Lester, who pitched a no-hitter against Kansas City on May 19, starts Game 3 when the series moves to Fenway Park on Monday. Tim Wakefield, Boston's 42-year-old knuckleballer, is to start Game 4.