Red Sox News & Notes – 4/12

Jarrod Saltalamacchia(notes) #39 consoles Daisuke Matsuzaka(notes) #18 of the Boston Red Sox after a six-run second inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park April 11, 2011 in Boston, Massachusetts.

Man that was UGLY last night. I was there so I can attest to it.

The enigma that is Daisuke Matsuzaka struck again last night for the Boston Red Sox in their 16-5 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays. Here you have a pitcher that’s shown flashes of brilliance over his 100 MLB starts while also stinking up the joint. Here’s a man who is so revered in Japan. Here’s a pitcher who has won two World Baseball Classic MVP’s after leading Japan to back-to-back titles.

Then you have the pitcher who served up meatballs last night. You really can’t argue with the fact that Dice-K attacked the strike zone last night. And when you attack the strike zone, you’re not supposed to put the pitches on a silver platter for the batters to hit.

The only hiccup for Dice-K in the first inning came when former Red Sox idiot Johnny Damon took the first pitch he saw and planted into the right field seats. But man was the second inning a totally different story.

The first seven batters reached base one way or another and by the time Matsuzaka actually recorded the first out of the inning, the Red Sox already found themselves chasing seven runs. In the third inning, he allowed a leadoff single to B.J. Upton and then walked Felipe Lopez. By that point, the Fenway Faithful and Terry Francona had seen enough.

Tim Wakefield came out of the bullpen to a standing ovation mainly because we’d all seen enough of Dice-K. And in his typical fashion, he waited until Wake got to the mound before exiting. And in a quick flash, the Fenway Faithful had gone from cheering Wake to booing Dice-K. Had he been smart, he would have left while the cheers for Wake were still going.

With the exception of Alfredo Aceves (2.2 innings, two strikeouts, no hits) it was a rough night for Red Sox pitching. Dice-K allowed seven runs on eight hits in two plus innings. Wake allowed five runs on seven hits in 3 1/3 innings. And Rhode Island native Dan Wheeler got roughed up by his former team to the tune of four runs on five hits.

Definitely a strange night offensively when David Ortiz and Adrian Gonzalez, the two slowest players on the Red Sox, hit triples. Carl Crawford finally got an extra base hit and Jacoby Ellsbury showed signs of life with a single and a solo home run.

It’s really hard to find any positives though from this game. Sure you can look at Crawford’s extra base hit or Ellsbury’s two hits, but when you’re chasing seven runs before even coming to the plate in the second inning, you just think to yourself, here we go again.

I said this on Facebook and Twitter. If this is what it feels like to be a fan of the Pittsburgh Pirates, then this sucks.

We’ll be back later today with tonight’s lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and links from the day but enjoy the overnight links by clicking on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

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Sox let one get away [Boston Globe]

It was a full day for Fuld [Boston Globe]

Personally, Maddon’s not mad [Boston Globe]

Biographer looks back on working with Manny [Boston Globe]

Dice-K, Sox fail miserably [Boston Herald]

Joe Maddon spots a ‘problem’ with Carl Crawford [Boston Herald]

A wonder-Fuld debut [Boston Herald]

Situation’s quite Dice-y [Boston Herald]

Johnny Damon back in town, but without Ramirez [Boston Herald]

Nation Station: Numbers show no place like Fenway [CSNNE.com]

Maddon on Ramirez: ‘We were counting on him’ [CSNNE.com]