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Baseball Today: Friday, July 20 »
July 20, 2007
By JOE McDONALD
Journal Sports Writer
BOSTON -- There’s no need for anyone to Google directions for how to tie a noose.
Or is there?
Despite losing their third game in a row, the Boston Red Sox are not showing signs of panic. Prior to their 4-2 loss to the Chicago White Sox last night at Fenway Park, the players were calm and collective and the clubhouse was much of the same following the defeat.
Red Sox starter Daisuke Matsuzaka dropped his record to 11-7 after allowing three runs on two hits in five innings, plus four batters, of work as Boston’s offense once again failed to drive in runs. The Sox were able to bang out 11 hits, but couldn’t produce in the crucial situations.
''In his first couple of hitters he was in his delivery so well,'' said Boston manager Terry Francona about Matsuzaka. ''The ball was coming out of his hand so crisp and then he ran through some spots where all his walks were grouped in innings where he didn’t command for say 15 pitches. He pitched himself into a box where he gave up a single and it was a couple of runs. They certainly weren’t hitting him all over the ballpark.''
Because Matsuzaka is so regimented in his preparation, and was not used to games being delayed while he played in Japan, last night’s 1:56 delay could have had an affect on his performance but he wasn’t about to make any excuses.
''Just from the outset tonight I wasn’t able to throw any strikes,'' said Matsuzaka, who finished with 109 pitches (63 for strikes). ''That was the difference. . . I didn’t feel there was a particular affect [due to the delay]. I felt my stuff was okay tonight, I just wasn’t able to control it very well.''
Even though he only allowed two hits, Dice-K said because of his season-high six walks, it felt more like he surrendered eight hits.
Speaking of hits, Boston had plenty of them. The Sox just didn’t have the runs.
With two runners on and the Sox trailing by a run in the seventh inning, Manny Ramirez smoked a high liner to deep center field that looked like it had enough to get out. Unfortunately, it was to the deepest part of the field and White Sox centerfielder Jerry Owens was able to track it down right at the corner of the Red Sox bullpen for the second out of the inning.
''Unfortunately, a lot of hits and not a lot of runs,'' said Francona when asked about the offense. ''It’s something we need to . . . if Manny’s shot goes another foot the other way then I’m up here, saying ‘wow it’s nice to get a big hit like that.’ That was a very, very good swing. We just came up empty and it hurts.''
There’s been one common theme around these parts of late.
Can the Red Sox right the ship, stop the surging New York Yankees and keep their lead in the A.L. East standings safe?
While Red Sox Nation and the local sports-talk shows dwell on this more than if there was a third gunman on the grassy knoll, the proof could be found in the Red Sox clubhouse yesterday afternoon. The Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays played a day game and New York was trailing by a run in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Almost everyone in the Red Sox clubhouse were intently watching the game, waiting to see if the Bronx Bombers could come back and cut their deficit in the standings even closer. Those people paying attention to the game were the 50 or so media members.
Not one Red Sox player was watching, only a handful of team personnel.
In fact, it was almost an hour later when Boston closer Jonathan Papelbon walked through the clubhouse and asked who had won the game. When told it was the Blue Jays, he turned and said sarcastically to the wall of media members, ''Can we all breathe now?'' and followed that statement up with an expletive.
It was an interesting scene.
The fact of the matter remains, however, if the Red Sox can’t get a winning streak started and the Yankees continue to roll, well . . . somebody needed to get things going for Boston.
The Red Sox looked to Matsuzaka to stop the bleeding.
Dice-K has an army-like regimen when it comes to his game preparation, but because of last night’s inclement weather the game was delayed 1:56. It didn’t seem to bother him too much.
The first-year Red Sox pitcher made his 20th start of the season against the Chicago White Sox at Fenway and after a shaky 32-pitch first inning where he allowed one run and issued two walks, Dice-K settled down.
He retired 12 of the next 13 batters he faced and thanks to a two-run second inning for Boston, Matsuzaka held a one-run lead after five innings. He also posted six strikeouts through the first five.
In the top of the sixth, however, Matsuzaka faltered.
He walked the bases loaded before surrendering a two-run single to Chicago’s A.J. Pierzynski and Francona had seen enough and gave his starter the hook, replacing him with reliever Manny Delcarmen. Dice-K finished five innings plus four batters, allowing a total of three runs on two hits with six strikeouts and a season-high six walks.
Chicago held a 3-2 lead until the top of the eighth inning when Paul Konerko belted a leadoff homer off Sox lefty Hideki Okajima that landed in the Monster seats. It was the first home run he had allowed since his major-league debut on April 2 at Kansas City when John Buck hit a roundtripper. Konerko’s blast also snapped Okajima’s 17-inning scoreless streak.
Even before that point, the Red Sox needed a solid outing from Dice-K.
Matsuzaka entered last night’s game with an 11-6 record with a 3.94 ERA with the Sox in his first season in the majors. He began the season as expected as a firestorm and completed dominated en route to a 7-2 record in his first nine starts. Entering last night’s game, however, he evened off a little bit and posted a 4-4 mark in his last nine starts.
Is there a trend here?
Opposing clubs obviously have better scouting reports on Matsuzaka now that the season is into the second half. He had the advantage at the start of the season, but now he’s had to make adjustments and proved he can do that successfully last night against the White Sox.
After Boston won the bidding war last offseason and subsequently signed the Japanese sensation, there was a lot of pressure on the Sox and their newest pitcher to produce. There were a lot of outside distractions to deal with, but there hasn’t been any negative effect on the baseball side of the deal.
When asked if he thought Dice-K and the club have finally reached a point where the sides have jelled, Francona said it tough to figure.
''Because of the language barrier we’re still getting there,'' he said. ''We’re still learning because we can’t have that conversation in the outfield [during batting practice] about your hometown. It’s a project and it’s a lot of hard work on his part because he’s the one [trying] to speak English.''
Francona wanted to make it clear the most important thing on the club’s mind at the start of Dice-K mania, and all of the outside distractions, the Red Sox put winning first and foremost.
''I think we’ve accomplished that right from the beginning,'' added the manager. ''The comfort level is getting stronger and stronger. I don’t know if you ever get to 100 percent with anybody, we’re always trying to get better.''
Just in case anyone is wondering how to make a noose, make a simple knot and . . .
Posted by Joe McDonald 
at 1:26 AM | Permalink
