Daisuke Matsuzaka’s first pitch to Nate McLouth only foreshadowed things to come.
McLouth took Matsuzaka deep on the very first pitch of the game and the Atlanta Braves whomped Boston’s starter for six runs on eight hits over four innings pitched. Matsuzaka walked a season high four batters and struck out two.
Kenshin Kawakami first inning against the Red Sox also foreshadowed his outing. Kawakami struck out Dustin Pedroia, J.D. Drew and Kevin Youkilis in the bottom of the first inning and went on to pitch six strong innings of two hit ball allowing just two runs.
He walked three and struck out five.
Jason Bay drove in Boston’s only runs in the sixth inning on a two-run homer, 18th of the season. Bay now has 65 RBI on the season with the two-run blast.
Goat of the Game – Dice-K
If he doesn’t get demoted after this start what will it take?
Next Game – 6/20 vs. Atlanta Braves – Derek Lowe/Josh Beckett
Derek Lowe back in Fenway sounds sweet to me.
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A trip to the DL and some rehab in Florida is what’s needed. Whether Dice will agree to it is another matter. The single most annoying thing about Dice is that he nibbles around the plate against the weakest hitters in the line-up. He did it again last night. Got 2 outs and then started to nibble with the Braves #9 hitter and ended up walking him which lead to the game being lost as the Braves tacked on another 3 runs to make it a 5 – 0 score. It’s like he loses his concentration and innings blow up on him. There is no way you can put a guy like Dice in the bullpen. It takes him a half hour to warm up as is. The only answer is the DL and a rehab in Florida.
The Eck had some cogent comments about Dice-K after he was pulled from the game. If I can summarize, he basically said that Dice was clearly not himself — that he was not the same pitcher that we saw last year. Whether that was the result of a physical problem or not, Eck didn’t clearly say.
He concluded that a minor-league assignment, perhaps after a DL stint, would probably be the best course. He said a trip to the bullpen would do no good, because Dice needed work. Plus, if you send Dice to the bullpen, you have to send down one of your effective relievers, thus weakening the pen.
He also indicated that Dice remains a valuable property and a talented pitcher. His commentary was focused on salvaging Dice, not dumping him.
Eck knows of what he speaks. I can’t believe Theo and Tito can’t make a clear decision on this. It is obvious to players, fans, commentators that Daisuke has issues which have hurt is velocity and command. Whether the issues are physical (WBC-induced arm fatigue or injury) or emotional (the trauma of changing your MVP pitching style after an 18 – 3 season to accomodate American tastes . . . and failing to do so) or possibly a combination of both. Craig Hansen and Clay Buchholz, after great success, also had their deliveries tampered with and were slow to recover.
Whatever the reason. DL. Florida. Portland. Pawtucket. Fenway. Take place of injured SP. Finish strong. Win WS.