You have a few problems in the first inning. You hit a batter, induce two ground outs that advance the runner to third, you give up a single that scores the run, and then you retire 15 of the final 16 batters you face, including 11 in a row and that’s a bad day. I am really wondering what a good day for Matsuzaka is then.

He was masterful on the mound on Thursday. He had good command of all of his pitches, he was hitting his locations and he even threw with a little more zip on the ball. But yet he wasn’t satisfied.

“That I was able to pitch [well] despite struggling a little bit,” said Matsuzaka through his interpreter. “I felt like my pitches were cutting a little bit to the right … so I had trouble controlling my fastball.”

Terry Francona was very pleased with Matsuzaka’s effort on Thursday.

“If that’s struggling, we’re in for some fun,” Francona said. “I think he’s a perfectionist, like a lot of good players are.”

He even threw the mythical “gyroball.” Folks, this pitch simply doesn’t exist. When he throws this pitch, it is a change up with screwball action. All I know is he threw that ball and it looked like it was going to go over the middle of the plate and as soon as it got near the plate, the bottom fell out. Of course, it was called strike 3.

I was simply impressed with his outing. You really had to see him today. I have seen most of his starts this spring that have been televised and this wasn’t the same pitcher. He hadn’t fared too well his last time out against the Orioles. So you knew he was going to be ready to pitch on Wednesday.

He did have one bit of minor trouble. He was going to his mouth too much to moisten the ball while he was on the mound. This is a no-no in baseball as you have to be off the dirt mound to go to your mouth. He did find a way around it by using the sweat from his neck. Basically, a pitcher does this so they get a better grip on the ball. The Pirates made a big stink about it and Captain Varitek went out to the mound and explained it to him.

Mike Lowell was interviewed during the game as well and was asked how many different pitches Dice-K throws. He said he didn’t know but that he probably should find out what the signals are because it will help him be ready on defense if the ball is hit to him. Normally, the third baseman can see what pitch is being called so he can be ready for anything. Even Adam LaRoche of the Pirates was curious as to how many different pitches Matsuzaka throws and even asked Varitek.

“He looks to me like he’s going to have a very successful career,” LaRoche said. “I’ve never seen anyone throw that many different pitches, and he throws them all for strikes. . . . I asked Jason Varitek how many pitches the guy throws. Varitek just smiled and said he didn’t know, but that he needed both hands to flash him the signals.”

If this outing is any indication of how he is going to pitch all season, well buckle up Red Sox fans, it’s gonna be one hell of a ride.