For the boys in pinstripes that is:
Daisuke Matsuzaka described himself as a slow starter, saying that he usually did not pitch his best in Japan until the summer months. So Matsuzaka theorized that the same pattern would occur now that he was with the Boston Red Sox. The more Matsuzaka pitched, he said, the better he would get.
But did Matsuzaka expect to start this unevenly in the United States? Did he expect to sport an earned run average that was nearly double what he had for the Seibu Lions last season? Did he expect to work this hard in the first month of the season to win one more game than he has lost?
While Matsuzaka knows that he needs to adjust to the harder ball, to the strong American lineups and to pitching every fifth day instead of every sixth day, he is also extremely confident. It is unlikely that Matsuzaka thought that he would experience as many growing pains as he has had.
Yet there was Matsuzaka, wobbling his way through a brutal fourth inning against the Yankees. The $103 million pitcher looked unsteady as his fastballs sailed out of the strike zone and his breaking pitches fooled no one. Matsuzaka rubbed his forehead, kicked at the pitching rubber and breathed heavily.
It took Matsuzaka 41 pitches to get through the fourth after it had taken him 42 pitches to navigate through the first three. It also took Matsuzaka 27 minutes to notch three outs in an inning that featured three walks, three hits and four runs.
J. C. Romero was warming up in the inning. The fans in Japan did not wake up on a Saturday morning to watch J. C. Romero.
Eventually, Matsuzaka finished the fourth. Eventually, Matsuzaka tossed six innings, only one of them a fiasco. Eventually, Matsuzaka and the Red Sox defeated the Yankees, 11-4, at Yankee Stadium. Matsuzaka was not superb, but he was able to stymie the Yankees, his newest enemies, for the second time in six days.
?We didn?t sign this guy to help us for the next three months,? Red Sox Manager Terry Francona said. ?We think he?s going to help us for a long time.?
For the Yankees, though, the biggest story isn’t Matsuzaka. It’s yet further evidence that their pitching staff is falling apart. Tonight’s starter was Andy Pettite, who was 13-5 with 2.98 ERA in games against Boston going in. And yet, the Red Sox scored 11 runs and blew the Yankees away at home.
Things are truly not well in the House That Ruth Built.
Apparently, though, there are some that are happy about it.
