SoxSpace News

Just A Little Preview by Jared Carrabis
Matsuzaka shines in return, Ortiz stands alone

In what could very well be a preview of the 2009 American League Division Series, the Red Sox gave the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim a little reminder of what to expect come October.

Taking the mound for the first time at the major league level since June 19 , Daisuke Matsuzaka had his work cut out for him, as he went to battle with the team who boasted the second best record in the American League.

With the eyes of Red Sox Nation locked on Matsuzaka, the right-hander did not disappoint. In fact, he exceeded the expectations of each and every fan in that ballpark. Daisuke's 2009 season has been a far cry from his '08 campaign, which saw the native of Japan go 18-3 for Boston.

Since rejoining the Red Sox after picking up his second MVP award at the World Baseball Classic, Matsuzaka failed to make a single start for Boston without giving up at least one earned run. Well, on Tuesday night, Matsuzaka was finished doing his Brad Penny impersonation and looked more like the pitcher who finished third in the Cy Young voting just a year prior.

The right-hander fired 93 pitches over six innings of work. Six innings may not seem like a whole lot, but his outing in the first game of the series was his longest outing of 2009. Matsuzaka commanded the strike zone with all of his pitches, especially his fastball, and struck out five batters. His velocity was encouraging, as the radar gun read his fastball to clock in at 93 MPH at times.

In true Daisuke Matsuzaka fashion, he pitched his best when the pressure was on. After allowing his first hit of the game in the top of the fifth, the Angels set themselves up with situation of two men in scoring position with one out. Matsuzaka responded by striking out Jeff Mathis and Chone Figgins consecutively to get out of the jam.

After walking the first batter he saw in the top of the seventh, manager Terry Francona made the decision to lift Matsuzaka from the game in what was, then, a 2-0 game. At the conclusion of his return, the right-hander walked off the mound and headed towards the Red Sox's dugout to a standing ovation courtesy of the Fenway Faithful.

"In the last start, I left amidst some boos," Matsuzaka said through an interpreter. "So to be able to come back and experience that today was something very special as a ballplayer. If I could say one thing, I didn't want to leave in the middle of an inning, but I'm very grateful for the fans' response today."

Ramon Ramirez, Daniel Bard and Billy Wagner combined to keep the Angels off the scoreboard leading into the ninth inning, but before the game could reach its final inning, history was to be made.

With a run already in after a triple by JD Drew and an RBI single by Jason Bay, who was gunned down trying to go for two, David Ortiz came to the plate with two down. With a 1-0 count, Ortiz blasted a 94 MPH fastball well over 400 feet and into the seats in deep center field.

"When you play good in September, it gets you in a good mood for October," said Ortiz. "We're looking good and feeling good."

When Ortiz stepped on home plate after rounding the bags, he placed himself atop the all time list for career home runs by a designated hitter with 270. Frank Thomas previously held the record with 269 from the DH position.

Boston closer, Jonathan Papelbon, had been warming up in the bullpen with the 3-0 lead and a save situation in place, but came on for the ninth inning even after Ortiz put recording a save out of reach. Papelbon did, however, allow a run after a two-out double by Erick Aybar plated Torii Hunter to break up the shutout. The right-hander prevented any further damage, as the Red Sox won their sixth straight game.

Final Score: Angels 1, Red Sox 4

Things you'll need to know to impress your friends:

The Angels were 0-for-6 with three strikeouts when batting with runners in scoring position against Daisuke Matsuzaka.

After defeating the Angels 4-1 on Tuesday night, you have to go back to September 9 for the last time that the Red Sox allowed more than one run in a game.

The win for Matsuzaka is his first win since defeating the Detroit Tigers on June 2.

And last, but not least, my favorite stat that I've seen in a while: the Red Sox are 21-2 when David Ortiz hits a home run. His 24 home runs in 2009 moves him past his total of a year ago when he hit 23.

Wednesday's pitching match-up:

Paul Byrd will get the ball on Wednesday, as he will be opposed by the lefty, Joe Saunders. If you've already cheated and taken a peek at the "Eye on the scoreboard" section, then you understand that it's not imperative for the Red Sox to sweep this series. As much as a sweep would send a message to the Angels, we want this team to see Josh Beckett, Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz as less as possible before October. The Red Sox will likely be short-handed on Wednesday, as both Kevin Youkilis and Victor Martinez are said to likely miss another game. If Paul Byrd can give the Red Sox six solid innings like Daisuke Matsuzaka did on Tuesday, then this game his very winnable. Byrd hasn't lost a game at Fenway Park in his last three outings and holds a 4-2 career record against the Halos.

Eye on the scoreboard:

Blue Jays 10, Yankees 4
Athletics 6, Rangers 1

Result: Well, the Yankees got smoked in the Bronx tonight, as the Sox pulled within 6.5 games in the AL East. The Red Sox are just one win and a Ranger loss away from making the Wild Card deficit identical to that of the Yankees' lead in the AL East, which has been deemed as "insurmountable" by the New York media. So, according to them, even though Boston's Magic Number to clinch is down to 13, any lead of 6.5 games or more means that it's game over. On a serious note, the Yankees will be losing Jorge Posada for about 5-6 games after his cheap shot elbow on Tuesday night that sparked a bench-clearing brawl. The pile looked like it got pretty rough, so keep your fingers crossed for a Bill Lee moment reversed.

-Jared Carrabis

To order my debut book, One Fan's Story: If This Hat Could Talk, click HERE!