It was this close play at first that caused the Diceman to unravel in the fourth
SUMMARY:
For the second straight outing Dice-K got little run support and took a loss despite pitching well. He allowed just 2 runs in one rough inning, only 3 hits and struck out 10 Blue Jay batters, yet with the blazing Boston bats suddenly silenced, the Diceman fell to sub-.500 on the season.
HERO: Dice-K
Sure he took the loss, but c'mon he allowed 2 runs and 3 hits in 6 innings, which certainly qualifies as 'giving his team a chance to win the game'. He also became the first rookie since Fernando Valenzuela in 1981 to have a pair of double-digit strikeout games in his first three starts.
GOAT: Dice-K
Proving he is indeed human, the calm & cool hurler got rattled for the first time during a rough 2nd inning. After allowing two singles and a walk to tie the game, he then walked two batters in a row to force in the go-ahead/game-winning run.
KEY MOMENT: Top 2nd, 2 on 1 out
With Manny & Lowell, who both singled, on board and just one out it looked as if the Sox were just a hit or two away from breaking the game open like they had done all weekend.
Wrong. Struggling Captain Varitek grounded into a soul-crushing double play, and that was the last of Boston's scoring threats.
RECAP:
Before anyone goes jumping off the Bunker Hill Bridge I just want to say relax, take a deep breath & a swig of Guinness and chill out.
Sure Boston's new $103 million dollar investment, Daisuke Matsuzaka, is sitting on the south side of .500 and has already had to tread into unfamiliar territory like icing his arm and getting rattled under pressure, but it's all part of his adjustment to his new job & surroundings.
At least that's what we have to tell ourselves.
The Red Sox Express ran off the tracks in Canada again as Dice-K was both dominant and erratic, a combination that ended up costing Boston the chance at a win. But in all fairness to Daisuke, when your team has only scored 1 run for you in your last 14 innings pitched you're kinda screwed from there.
Everything started out hunky-dory for Boston as Dice-K retired the first 8 batters he faced, 4 on strikeouts. Jason Smith broke that string with a single in the 3rd, but Matsuzaka quickly dispatched with Alex Rios and appeared to be in command of all his pitches. When Willy Mo Pena, starting in place of J.D.Drew, clubbed a mammoth homerun on top of the centerfield windows to lead off the third, it looked like Boston might be on its way to its fourth straight win.
But then came the ill-fated fourth inning, when everyone saw a glimpse of what it would be like 
for Dice-K under pressure. The frame began with a strikeout of Adam Lind and it looked as though Matsuzaka was in the midst of a potentially special performance. Quicker than you can say "not so fast my Fenway friend" a missed strike-3 call by home plate umpire Ed Montague to Vernon Wells got Dice off his game a bit, as he looked skyward in digust.
To add insult to injury, after receiving the fortuitous home call, Wells then legged out a close play at first base that really got Matsuzaka pissed- he bowed his head and shook his arm angrily. Next thing you know he walked Frank Thomas, Lyle Overbay tied the game on a single over Lugo's glove, and then Matsuzaka uncharacteristically walked two batters in a row including catcher Gregg Zaun on a 3-1 breaking ball to force in the go-ahead run.
He escaped further damage when Coco caught Smith's deep flyout to end the inning, but with Sox killer Gustavo Chacin (6.2IP, 6H, 1R, 0BB, 3Ks- he's now 6-0 vs. Boston) and relievers Casey Janssen & Jason Frasor shutting the Sox down, it was basically over after that.
Seriously though, I know part of the Nation is going to be up in arms over the fact that the guy who Boston went to great lengths to bring here to be a rotation savoir has a worse record than scrubs like Wilfredo Ledezma and former 21-game loser Mike Maroth, but let's look at the big picture here, folks:
-He's only allowed 12 hits and 5 walks in 21 innings for a staggering 0.86 WHIP
-His strikeout-to-walk ratio is a spectacular 5-1 (24 Ks, 5BBs)
-In his 3 starts the Red Sox have scored a grand total of 5 runs, or 1.6 runs/game; by comparison, 3-0 Josh Beckett has received 9.3 runs/game
-He tied Oakland's Tim Hudson for the most strikeouts in the first 3 starts of a career with 24
The bottom line is the guy got a little upset over a coule of tough calls, but he only allowed 2 runs and 3 hits while mowing down 10 Jays batters. If Papi or Manny had been able to get to Frasor in the 8th & 9th to tie the game, the incident would be a blip on the season's radar. But the Sox were shut down and tonight, for the first time, Matsuzaka got out of his usual comfort zone and it cost him and the Sox.
That doesn't mean he won't win 15-18 games.
But if the Sox don't give him any run support, he might not win 10.
NOTES:
-Tito tinkered with the lineup for the first time this season tonight, and for the most part the moves worked. Coco moved up to the two-hole and had 2 hits including a double and WMP, batting in Coco's 8th slot, had 2 hits including that monster bomb. Alas Youk, who moved to Drew's 5th spot, went 0-4 with 2 Ks.
-Varitek's season-long slump (is it a slump, or he just can't hit anymore?) continues. Although he did notch a single, his rally-killing DP was where we needed the artist formerly known as Captain Clutch to step up. Other members of the near-.200 club include Manny (.205), Pedroia (.207), and Coco, who despite his 2 knocks is still batting only .150
QUOTES:
-"If he recognizes pitches and swings at strikes, he's going to do some damage." -Captain Obvious, errr Francona, on Pena's titanic homer.
-"Even if I pitch well and the team does not win, I'm definitely not happy with that result."- the ever self-effacing Daisuke Matsuzaka
RECORD: 7-5
AL EAST: - 1/2
UP NEXT: Wed @ Tor, 7:05
Wakefield vs. Ohka
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