July 3, 2007
...
It was cool at Fenway Park, a superb night to play and watch a
baseball game, as 37,005 could attest. But these days, Daisuke
Matsuzaka probably could be dominant in an igloo. The Red Sox' 4-1
win over the Devil Rays raised the possibility that we might be
starting to see the dominating pitcher Matsuzaka was in Japan.
The Sox $103
million man has been sizzling, posting a 3-0 record and 0.62 ERA in his last
four starts, including tonight's eight shutout innings. He allowed four hits
and struck out nine in improving his record to 10-5. With the performances of
Matsuzaka and Hideki Okajima, the Red Sox are willing to commit even more
resources to Japanese baseball. After the game, the team announced it had
entered a "strategic alliance" with the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon
Professional Baseball in the areas of scouting and player development.
Matsuzaka,
whose ERA has dropped from a high of 4.83 to 3.53 in his last five starts,
showed signs he might turn into an elite pitcher in sending the Devil Rays to
their ninth straight defeat. Matsuzaka told Japanese reporters he wasn't overly
impressed with reaching 10 wins, as he considers that the minimum a starting
pitcher in any league should get.
He threw
1-2-3 innings in the third and fourth while striking out three. He also struck
out two in the fifth, sandwiched around a Delmon Young hit-by-pitch. He allowed
a hit to Akinori Iwamura in the sixth, and although Coco Crisp made a nice throw
to second base, Dustin Pedroia dropped it for an error. But Matsuzaka then got
two line-outs to get out of the inning. In the seventh, Matsuzaka walked leadoff
man Carlos Pena (who hit a ninth-inning homer off Jonathan Papelbon), but he
induced a double-play ball from Greg Norton and then got Ty Wigginton to ground
to short.
He
had great movement on his split-fingered pitch and two-seam fastball. He threw
impressive breaking balls. He seemed buoyant on the mound, appearing to be in a
tremendous place with his repertoire and his confidence. Those who have watched
him pitch in Japan over the years have commented that Matsuzaka has yet to show
his best in the major leagues. After efforts such as last night's, one can
understand what they mean.
The Sox
opened a 3-0 lead in the second when Julio Lugo stroked a two-run single up the
middle, breaking his 0-for-33 slump. He received a standing ovation, and it must
have felt to him as if he'd just won the lottery. He added a single in the
seventh but got picked off first base by the catcher when he was caught leaning
the wrong way.
Devil Rays
starter Scott Kazmir, who normally owns the Red Sox, walked the bases loaded in
the second, as Manny Ramirez, Kevin Youkilis, and Mike Lowell took free passes.
Kazmir almost minimized the damage because Jason Varitek's grounder to Wigginton
at second base should have been a double play. However, Wigginton bobbled the
ball and had to settle for the out at first as Ramirez scored. After Wily Mo
Pena struck out looking, it was left to Lugo in the No. 9 hole, and he didn't
disappoint.
The Sox got
some insurance in the sixth on Varitek's hard-hit sacrifice fly to right,
scoring Youkilis. The first baseman, back in the lineup after resting a sore
left quadriceps Monday night, had singled to left and reached third on Lowell's
infield hit to third (Lowell took second when Iwamura threw the ball away).
With Curt
Schilling on the disabled list, the Sox must get top efforts out of Josh Beckett
and Matsuzaka. In his last outing, Matsuzaka allowed three hits and one run over
eight innings in a no-decision against Seattle in a 2-1, 11-inning Sox loss.
Before that, he beat San Diego, 2-1, pitching six innings and allowing one run.
Before last night, he hadn't been getting a lot of support. In his previous six
starts, the Sox had scored two runs or fewer, and they'd given him seven runs in
those games. And in his five losses, the Sox managed four runs while he was in
the game.
After a long
bottom of the seventh in which the Sox had runners on but couldn't score,
Matsuzaka came out for the eighth, did his normal stretching in back of the
mound, then fanned Delmon Young for his eighth strikeout, the sixth straight
start in which he has truck out eight or more.
Jonny Gomes
singled and stole second. Dioner Navarro kept fouling off pitches, getting
Matsuzaka's pitch count up, before Navarro sent a long fly to center that Crisp
tracked down. Matsuzaka went 3-and-0 to countryman Iwamura, who then took three
straight strikes to end the inning and send the crowd into a roar. "Sweet
Caroline" played as Matsuzaka left the field after 122 pitches and went into the
dugout. He was done, sizzling on a cool summer night.
There's much
frustration in David Ortiz's eyes and voice these days. After going 0 for 4 in
last night's 4-1 win over Tampa Bay, as his average dropped to .307. He hit 54
home runs last season but has only 13 this season, a game past the halfway mark.
He hasn't homered in his last 46 at-bats.
Coco Crisp
returned to the lineup after missing four games with a sprained left thumb. He
extended his hitting streak to five games with a fifth-inning double and is now
7 for 18 with two doubles, an RBI, and five runs in the five-game run.
Reliever
Hideki Okajima has moved ahead of Jeremy Bonderman of the Tigers in the Internet
voting for the final spot on the American League All-Star team. It's a
nip-and-tuck race; voting ends tomorrow. Okajima appears to be benefiting from
the votes of Japanese.
Francona
remained encouraged by Curt Schilling's progress. Schilling again made about 35
throws yesterday. He's not expected to throw off a mound until at least after
the All-Star Game.
