Dice-K Looks Hittable, Still Good

Let's not beat around the bush here, eh?  Japanese pitchers are incredibly frustrating to gauge in Spring Training.


For the second straight year, Daisuke Matsuzaka - that beautiful photo of the Gun from the Rising Sun below comes courtesy Reuters - started off a Red Sox campaign with a hit. For the second straight time, it didn't matter, as he worked out of that jam and another en route to two clean sheet innings in an exhibition start. This time, his line looked like this: 2.0 innings, 12 pitches and 2 hits. Eight of his 12 pitches were for strikes, and those were followed - presumably - by a whole lot more strikes in an interminable bullpen session that he's been known to crank up after he exits games. Oh, and the everpresent interpreter Masa Hoshino? The MIT grad? Yeah, he's out in the pen, too, presumably taking a quick nap.


Unlike last year, Dice-K's clean innings were followed this time by a countryman's, with Hideki Okajima tossing in on the shutout in the third and, presumably, the fourth. There's no running box in these Spring Training exhibitions, so we're not entirely sure if Okie came back out to toss the fourth, though we understand that was the plan ahead of time.

And as for the bats? First two dingers of the season earlier in the game, with Kevin Youkilis knocking a bomb off Kevin Slowey (just not a good pitcher's name, is it?) and Jason Captain America Varitek following with a deep shot of his own.

We'll have more recap after the game. In the meantime, it's worth checking Extra Bases, where Amalie Benjamin's done a pretty solid job updated the game post-by-post with all significant action. Of course, as we say that, she hasn't updated on how the Sox scored in the top of the fifth to take a 4-0 lead, or how they scored the third run, for that matter. Grade? B-. Give her time. Remember, it's early in Spring Training for the journos, too.

Then again, hell, this IS the Mayor's Cup. The Mayor's Cup man! F the Twins, the Sox OWN Ft. Myer's!

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