Matsuzaka gets blitzed as Sox lose 2nd straight at Fenway

Cardinals 9, Sox 3
WP: Boggs (2-0)
LP: Matsuzaka (8-1)
SV: None
HRs: BOS-Drew (14); STL: Glaus (10), Miles (1), Ankiel (12)

SUMMARY:
Daisuke Matsuzaka made his first start since going on the DL almost a month ago, and he looked as rusty as an old swing set; he allowed 9 baserunners in one+ inning of work, and rookie reliever Chris Smith did him no favors by giving up a grand slam to the second batter he faced after coming in with no outs in the second inning.

The loss was the Sox 2nd straight at Fenway, only the second time this year they've lost two in a row at home.

#1 STUNNER: Troy Glaus 2-4, 2R, 4BI, BB, GS
The surly, burly third baseman has been hot in June, and his seventh homer of the month was a doozy as his second inning granny off Smith blew the game open and turned the last eight innings into yard work time.

THE BIGGEST LOSER: Matsuzaka 1IP, 6H, 7ER, 3BB, 1K, HR, 48P
We all knew the guy would need some time to round back into form, especially with just one rehab start under his belt. But this outing could be considered a major step backward for the previously unbeaten starter. He. Had. Nothing.

RECAP:
Well that didn't go too well now, did it?

On a picturesque day at Fenway in front of a national TV audience, with its full compliment of players in the lineup and its winningest starter on the mound, it appeared as if a Sox victory was all but certain.

And then the game started, and it quickly became apparent that not only would Boston probably not win this game, but it might lose it in humiliating fashion.

Less than an hour into the game the Sox trailed 8-0, and any hopes of winning this series and Matsuzaka earning his 9th victory of the season were gone in a barrage of Red Bird base hits and bases on balls.

The Cards opened up an industrial strength-sized can of whup ass on Dice-K and the Sox this afternoon, and by the time the second inning was over the team was in worse shape than before Matsuzaka came back from his shoulder injury.

Suddenly the once solid staff is in a spot of trouble, because in the last few days Bartolo Colon and Mike Timlin have gone on the DL, Curt Schilling has all but called it a career, Hideki Okajima has developed a case of Steve Blass disease, and now it appears Daisuke's problems may be more than what a quick trip to the DL can cure.

Is it too late to trade for Santana?

It was obvious right from the beginning that Matsuzaka was either not fully recovered from his sore shoulder or just real, real, rusty. He walked the first batter of the game, the immortal Skip Schumaker, on five pitches that weren't really close to the strike zone, then surrendered a two-run homer to Aaron Miles for a lightning-quick 2-0 St. Louis lead.

Following last night's theme of the Cardinals scrubs doing the damage it was the light-hitting Miles' first homer since last September.

Unfortunately before he was out of the inning Dice K would let every one get in on the act as he followed the longball by allowing a single to Ryan Ludwick, a one out single to Troy Glaus, and after a ground ball moved the runners into scoring position, a two-run single by Jason LaRue (2-5, 2BI) pushed the lead to 4-0 before the Faithful had downed their first $9.00 beer.

Boston looked like it might jump right back in it when Jacoby Ellsbury dropped a leadoff double down the left field line, but rookie Mitchell Boggs, making his third career start in his fourth career appearance, got Pedroia, Drew and Manny to fly out to left, center and right, and before we knew it Matsuzaka was back on the mound.

But not for long.

Second verse, same as the first. Only worse.

Schumaker walked, again, for the second time in two innings, and then Miles (2-5, 2R, 2BI) dumped a single to center and Ludwick walked and the Cards had the bases loaded with no outs and it was all the fans could do to keep from booing Matsuzaka off the field.

Luckily for him this is the kinder, gentler, more forgiving post-titles Fenway crowd.

Mercifully Francona made the trip to the mound to pull his piss-poor starter, and on came rookie Chris Smith, who had been up and down from Pawtucket three times this year without ever getting into a game.

So he gets to come into a bases loaded, not outs jam with Ankiel and Glaus due up.

Welcome to the bigs, kid.

Things looked promising at first when the 27-year-old righty got Ankiel to strike out on three straight knee-bending breakers, but when he tried a similar tact with Glaus the strapping third baseman caught up to a hanging curve and swiftly deposited it into the seats above the Monster, and at 8-0 this one was all over save for the stat-padding.

Alas Boston couldn't even do that, managing a mere six base hits on the afternoon, and although they did scratch out a couple of runs in the bottom of the second off Boggs (5.1IP, 5H, 3ER, 2BB, 1K, 1HR) on a two-run double by Alex Cora, the only other run the Sox could muster on the afternoon was a solo shot by Drew, aka Juno, to lead off the sixth to slice the deficit to five, 8-3.

Ankiel got that run right back when he took Javier Lopez deep to begin the seventh, and about the only good sign for the Sox on the day was David Aardsma pitching his second consecutive 1-2-3, 3K inning in two days in the eighth.

So we got that going for us.

Thanks to Dice-Ks destruction and another win by the motherlovin' Rays, the Sox lead in the East has been reduced back to a minuscule 1/2 game.

Now Jon Lester will be faced with the task of preventing a humiliating home sweep when he takes the mound tomorrow afternoon, and he doesn't have to pitch another no-no.

Just keep the score under 8-zip after two, please.

RECORD: 46-31
AL EAST: Up 1/2 gm
STREAK: L2
LAST 10: 6-4
UP NEXT: Sun vs. STL 1:35 Pineiro vs. Lester