BOSTON – David Ortiz was the AL’s top hitter in May, with 10 homers and raising his batting average from .143 to .272.

And yet the Oakland Athletics still needed convincing.

Additional Photos

David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox watches the flight of the ball down the right-field line Wednesday night. It went for a home run – the key hit in a 6-4 victory against Oakland. The Associated Press

The A’s pitched to Ortiz with first base open in the fifth inning, and he launched a two-run, go-ahead homer down the right-field line that sent the Boston Red Sox to a 6-4 victory Wednesday night.

His next time up, the A’s granted Ortiz his first intentional walk of the season.

Big Papi is back.

“It’s been good to see,” Red Sox Manager Terry Francona said. “He’s swinging the bat great.”

Ortiz went 2 for 2 with two extra-base hits and two walks, and Daisuke Matsuzaka settled down after giving up three runs in the first inning as Boston rallied for the second straight game.

One night after scoring nine straight runs to back John Lackey and overcome a 4-0 deficit, the Red Sox scored six straight after falling behind 3-0. Kevin Youkilis had a two-run single in the first inning, then Ortiz made it 4-3 in the fifth with his homer.

“They’re the type of pitchers that you have to get on them early,” A’s catcher Kurt Suzuki said. “Once they get into a groove, they’re pretty darn good.”

Matsuzaka (4-2) allowed 10 hits and walked none, striking out seven. He gave up consecutive doubles to Daric Barton and Ryan Sweeney before Suzuki’s two-run homer in the first gave Oakland a 3-0 lead.

After his shaky start, Matsuzaka didn’t allow a runner to reach third base until the seventh.

“My only thought was to dig in and keep battling,” Matsuzaka said. “Things turned around.”

In the seventh, Matsuzaka hit Barton with two outs and Sweeney singled up the middle on a 3-2 pitch. Daniel Bard came in and struck Suzuki out to protect the 4-3 lead, then retired the side in the eighth before Jonathan Papelbon earned his 13th save despite Kevin Kouzmanoff’s homer that made it 6-4.

Ben Sheets (2-4) allowed four runs, seven hits and a walk, striking out one to suffer his first loss in a month and end a string of four no-decisions.

Dustin Pedroia singled in a run in the seventh to make it 5-3, and Marco Scutaro had three hits, including an RBI blooper in the eighth that made it 6-3.

Ortiz hit .363 with 27 RBI in May to earn AL player of the month — the fourth time he’s been honored but the first since September 2007. He also doubled and scored in the first, and in the seventh was intentionally walked — a sure sign opponents believe his slump is over.

Matsuzaka took a no-hitter into the eighth inning two starts ago, and in his last outing matched his career high with eight walks and didn’t make it out of the fifth in a loss to Kansas City. He showed both forms Wednesday, allowing three runs and four hits in the first inning, then pitching well.

“At the beginning it was almost too many strikes. If that’s a problem we’ll take it,” Francona said. “He gathered himself up in a hurry and pitched well.

NOTES: J.D. Drew hit his first triple since September. Sweeney was 1 for 11 against Matsuzaka before getting two hits against him. Jon Lester was named the AL pitcher of the month for the third time. Francona said Josh Beckett won’t throw for 10 days as he tries to recover from a lower back strain. Red Sox catcher Victor Martinez, who had four doubles and five hits Tuesday, was rested with a sore left big toe. He’s scheduled to catch Tim Wakefield today.

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