The Red Sox had two games on Thursday as they played split squad games. One game took place in Dunedin against the Toronto Blue Jays while the other took place down at the Fort against the Northeastern Huskies.

Josh Beckett was on the hill at the Fort and also looked like he was in midseason form. He threw 21 pitches, 18 of them were strikes, in two innings of work. He also threw some sharp curveballs. Craig Breslow, a Yale graduate, also pitched well striking out 3 in 2 innings. Minor leaguer Scott White and Alex Ochoa were the offensive stars as White had 2 homeruns and 6 rbi’s while Ochoa was 2 for 3 with 2 rbi’s in the 11-0 victory over Northeastern.

The other Sox team wasn’t as fortunate up in Dunedin as they lost to Toronto Blue Jays 4-1. Blue Jay’s pitcher Roy Halladay was the story as he pitched 2 innings of 1 hit ball. The only hit he allowed was to former teammate, Eric Hinske, who hit a double. Kason Gabbard pitched 2 innings giving up 1 run. Devern Hansack, who pitched a 5 inning no hitter in the 2006 regular season finale, struck out 3 in an 1 2/3 innings. However, he did give up 2 runs on 3 hits, including a two run homer by Aaron Hill.

The Red Sox will face these same Toronto Blue Jays on Friday afternoon at City of Palms in a the first of two split squad games for the Sox. Kyle Synder will be on the hill to start the game for the Sox.

Friday night marks the day that the Red Sox Nation has been waiting for. It is the highly anticipated debut of Daisuke Matsuzaka. He will be on the hill as the Sox take on the Boston College Eagles. The game will be televised back to Japan and will also be available here in New England on NESN from 6 to 7 as they have hockey commitments with the Boston Bruins. I am just glad we get to see that. It will be interesting not only to watch him pitch but to see how him and Varitek work together. Plus it will be funny to see all the Japanese media crunch into the smaller ballpark.

Terry Francona must have decided that Manny Ramirez got his “baseball legs” under him because he announced on Thursday that Manny will make his spring training debut in the afternoon game. Most likely he will get two at-bats and will play the outfield.

Heres a good article on Sox.com about how the Red Sox are the hottest topic in spring training right now.

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