KND Report: Daisuke Matsuzaka pitches strongly, wins in return to the rotation

September 15, 11:38 PMAsian-American Sports ExaminerMichael Street

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Fans of Boston and Japanese baseball were happy
to see Dice-K dealing from the mound again tonight
(AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

In his return to the rotation after almost three months on the DL, Daisuke Matsuzaka looked not just healthy but strong, blanking the first-place Los Angeles Angels for six innings and earning only his second win of the season, 4-1.

It was not only his first clean slate of the season, it was the first time he'd gotten past the sixth inning all year long, and he held the Angels hitless through the first four innings.

When he went to the disabled list, the Red Sox said it was a strained shoulder, but they traced the problems to his participation in the World Baseball Classic.

Though he was once again the MVP when Team Japan won its second WBC title, Matsuzaka didn't have his regular training regimen.

The Red Sox felt he wasn't ready for the regular season as a result, putting additional strain on his entire body, particularly his throwing shoulder.

He showed no signs of those problems tonight, needing only 93 pitches to retire 23 of the 24 batters he faced. Dice-K entered an important game, with Boston needing to widen its lead in the Wild Card, and the Angels trying to put more distance between them and the Texas Rangers.

And Dice-K faced the ace of the Los Angeles staff, John Lackey, who'd gone 3-0 in his last 3 starts, giving up just 1 ER over 26 IP for a 0.35 ERA. His last outing, he'd thrown a complete game shutout against the Seattle Mariners.

Dice-K didn't seem to care who he was facing and under what pressure. He just dealt, looking more like his old self than he has all season.

The first inning saw some of the typical nibble-y Dice-K, as he walked Chone Figgins after getting ahead of him 0-2. He fell behind both Maicer Izturis and Bobby Abreu with first pich balls, but set both down quickly thereafter.

After he got two strikes on Vladimir Guererro, Matsuzaka looked like he might give up another free pass—a rarity to the free-swinging Guererro—but he got the Angels' dangerous cleanup hitter to ground out to shortstop.

He seemed to get over that tendency in the second inning, needing all of seven pitches to retire the Angels' side, then surrendered a two-out walk to Figgins in the third, but got Izturis to fly out to end the inning.

After setting down the Angels in order in the fourth inning, Dice-K ran into his only real trouble in the fifth. Kendry Morales picked up the first hit against Matsuzaka when he dropped a single in front of J.D. Drew in right field, and then Erick Aybar laced a one-out single to left, advancing Morales to third.

Kattobase Nihonjin Dairiigaa!

With runners at the corners and one out, Dice-K bore down and fanned both Jeff Mathis and Figgins to end the threat.

Abreu would pick up a one-out double in the sixth, but Dice-K once again reached back to strike out Guererro and got some help when Mike Lowell snagged a Torii Hunter line drive for the third out.

Boston finally broke through against John Lackey, scoring two runs in their half of the sixth, so when Dice-K walked Morales to lead off the seventh inning, manager Terry Francona came out with the hook.

But Tito had high praise for his hitter as he took him out of the game, clearly giving him encouragement. As Dice-K left the mound, the Fenway faithful gave him a rousing round of applause.

Matsuzaka tipped his cap as he left the field amid the well-deserved cheers. The bullpen would hold his lead and the Red Sox added two more runs, so that even the run Jonathan Papelbon gave up in the ninth didn't matter.

Heading towards the playoffs, Boston is happy not only to have its Japanese ace back, but to have him back healthy and displaying great stuff. His fastball had great late movement and his breaking ball carved up the corners of the plate, and Dice-K looked nothing like the lost pitcher who occupied his uniform earlier this year.

Dice-K's next outing should come this Sunday at Baltimore—keep reading the Asian-American Sports Examiner to see how he does!

For more info: Read about what Boston's expectations were when he was pulled out of the rotation here.