Dice-K Dazzles in Red Sox 5-1 Victory
In what was being termed as possibly one of his last starts at home in a Red Sox uniform, Daisuke Matsuzaka turned back the clock on Monday afternoon and delivered a fine outing in leading Boston to a 5-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals.
Dice-K’s line was impressive: 7.0 innings, 5 hits, 1 run (unearned) while fanning 6 and walking 1. It was his first victory in the major leagues since May of 2011. That’s a whole lot of baseball in between wins. Some might say it was against the lowly Royals, but this is the same Royals lineup that dusted up BoSox pitching for 19 runs in the previous three games.
During the outing, it would have been easy to close your eyes and listen to Joe Castiglione call the game and think you were back in 2008 when Matsuzaka was on the mound during the season that saw him go 18-3 with a 2.90 ERA. But fast forward to 2012 and when you look at Dice-K’s performances since that fruitful year it’s easy to understand why this will be his last in Boston. There is speculation that he may return home to Japan after this season and that decision might be made for him if no contract floats his way.
The offense was sporadic in this contest, the 782nd consecutive sellout at Fenway. Cody Ross continued to give management every reason as to why he should be signed to a multi-year deal by driving in three runs. Jacoby Ellsbury went yard for the second time this season in what was solo shot in the bottom of the first inning and newly acquired James Loney picked up his second RBI as a member of the Red Sox with a single in the sixth.
Clayton Mortenson and Vicente Padilla combined to work a clean eighth inning before turning it over to Andrew Bailey for the ninth. Aside from a walk, it was an uneventful final inning for Bailey who seems to be quite comfortable in that position. Hang on folks, there could be more fireworks coming in the form of Alfredo Aceves. What would a Red Sox season be without a little bullpen drama?
The Sox are off to the West Coast for a nine-game road trip that begins on Tuesdsay in Los Angeles against the Angels. That series will be followed up by stops in Oakland and Seattle before returning home on September 7.