The Boston Red Sox rolled the dice on Saturday night with Daisuke Matsuzaka and instead of coming up snake eyes, he rolled a seven (well 7 2/3) for them. It took the Philadelphia Phillies 7 2/3 innings to get a hit off of him and it came from a little blooper off the bat of Juan Castro just over the outstretched arms of Marco Scutaro at shortstop.
That would turn out to be the only hit of the game for the Phillies and besides the three walks, Dice-K was almost perfect.
This was the Dice-K we heard about when the Red Sox first signed him. This was the Dice-K who was named MVP of the World Baseball Classic as he led Japan to back-to-back titles. This was the Dice-K we’ve seen glimpses of in a Red Sox uniform but we’ve never seen the whole enchilada.
Two starts ago, Matsuzaka was pretty dominant against the Toronto Blue Jays. In his last start, the Yankees roughed him up. So of course with him taking the mound last night against of the best hitting teams in the National League and maybe all of baseball, you weren’t really sure of what you were going to get.
He set the tone early for himself as he was attacking the strike zone. We’re used to seeing him nibble at the strike zone but he didn’t do that. With Jason Varitek behind the plate, Dice-K was in charge last night. He hit his spots and had good life on his fastball as well as his secondary pitches. The pair mixed his pitches perfectly to keep the Phillies hitters at bay. Rarely did we see him shake off Varitek.
Ironically enough, both of his good starts this season have come with Tek behind the dish. After his last start with Victor Martinez behind the plate, the two exchanged words. With Dice-K pitching well with Tek catching, you have to wonder if Terry Francona will use the pair together again going forward. Tek usually catches Josh Beckett but with Commander Kickass on the disabled list right now, I would think Tek will be catching Dice-K unless the matchup dicates otherwise.
This was the good pitching and defense that was promised by Theo Epstein before the season. The Red Sox made four outstanding plays on defense including one by Matsuzaka that he snared off the bat of Jayson Werth in the 7th inning.
The Red Sox will look to take the series this afternoon when they’ll take on old AL East foe Roy Halladay. Tim Wakefield, filling in for the injured Beckett, will take the ball for Francona.
We’ll be back in just a short while with today’s lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and any news and links but for now enjoy the overnight links after the jump.
Matsuzaka flirts with no-hitter [Boston Globe]
Change of battery provides a needed spark [Boston Globe]
This glove story ends happily [Boston Globe]
McDonald answered the call [Boston Globe]
Daisuke Matsuzaka loses no-hitter in eighth [Boston Herald]
Mates help Daisuke Matsuzaka construct a gem [Boston Herald]
Red Sox rekindle David Ortiz glove affair [Boston Herald]
No shortage of key plays in near no-no [Boston Herald]
Raul Ibanez’ painful reminder [Boston Herald]
Triple-header of mind games amazing [Boston Herald]
Homeland defense lapse [Boston Herald]
Walk this way [Boston Herald]
Dice-K nearly no-hits Phils in Sox’ 5-0 win [CSN New England]
Varitek won’t be Dice-K’s personal catcher [CSN New England]
Lowell: Thomas is in good hands [ESPN Boston]
Varitek not ready to replace Martinez [ESPN Boston]
Closing Time: Red Sox 5, Phillies 0 [Full Count]
Reaction to Daisuke’s almost no-no [Full Count]
Matsuzaka and Defense [Hit and Run with Dan Roche]
Daisuke Matsuzaka’s Near No-Hitter Was Hard to Predict [NESN.com]
Red Sox Are Much Better Than a Fourth-Place Club [NESN.com]
Are Blue Jays Better Off Without Roy Halladay? [NESN.com]
Bloop single is only blemish in Matsuzaka’s one-hit masterpiece [Providence Journal]
Red Sox Journal: While Cameron remains out, Ellsbury takes center stage [Providence Journal]
Facing Halladay, now a Phillie, is never an easy task [Providence Journal]
Red Sox put Ellsbury in center for now [RedSox.com]
Big Papi dusts off glove to play first base [RedSox.com]
An unlikely spoiler, Castro breaks up bid [RedSox.com]
Buchholz, Lester were rooting for Dice-K [RedSox.com]
For more slices of Boston Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, ESPN Boston, NESN, Providence Journal and WEEI websites.
And if you must check out the enemy papers, head over to the Philadelphia Daily News and Philadelphia Inquirer websites.
