Matsuzaka impressive against professional hitters, too

It's fitting that today's 14-6, 10-inning Sox victory over the Marlins took place in Jupiter because the way Daisuke Matsuzaka has been pitching hitters are going to start thinking he's from another planet, never mind another country.

Matsuzaka tossed three innings of 2-hit, shutout ball against Florida, allowing one walk while striking out three. He needed 47 pitches, 31 of which were strikes, and he threw first-pitch strikes to a stellar 10 out of 12 batters faced; talk about getting ahead of the hitters. Oh, and his fastball topped off at 94 mph.

Now can we please cut the bullshit about "what if this Matsuzaka guy can't pitch as well against major leaguers as he did against Japanese players and college kids"? Because the Diceman proved today that there aren't any hitters on the planet that he won't gladly attempt to dice-sect (sorry) with his nasty array of fastballs, curves, and mystical gyro balls.

It was Matsuzaka's first MLB action against actual major leaguers (although scrubs with names like Stokes, Gall, Seabol and Borchard aren't exactly the Fearsome Foursome), and the debut was a rousing success. Many people have argued that although Dice-K is a phenom in his native land, they are dubious that his rare abilities will translate here in the toughest hardball league in the world.

A start on Friday against the bright-eyed Boston College Eagles did nothing to prove or dispel the argument, although his 25-pitch, 19-strike scoreless outing certainly didn't hurt his confidence. Today was the real test, though, one that Boston ownership, media and fans had been waiting a whole winter for. And the Diceman did not disappoint.

Photos courtesy of REUTERS

Luckily the high-five knows no language barrier

The best part of the outing wasn't the fact that he threw an an impressive 90% of his pitches for strikes, or that the first batter he faced was former Sox property and reigning NL ROY Hanley Ramirez, whom he retired on two pitches. No, it was the fact that he had to work his way out of a legitimate scoring jam in order to keep his 0.00 ERA intact. After allowing a walk and ground rule double, Dice-K was faced with runners on first & second with one out. Here is where his mental toughness & discipline pays off for him as much as his psychical talents. Matsuzaka fanned the next batter and got the following to pop out on a bunt, and the Diceman escaped the inning unscathed.

And Red Sox Nation breathed a little easier, secure in our knowledge that this happy-go-lucky hurler from the Far East may just take our beloved Sox back to the top of the World.