Admit it, you thought Dice-K would last about 4 innings and would give up 5 runs tonight. Matsuzaka proved everybody wrong and pitched a great game at the Fens tonight. In 6 scoreless innings he gave up just 3 hits and struck out 5. RR, Wagner, Bard, and Paps went the rest of the way. Papelbon looked a little shaky and gave up one run but in the end he shut down the Angels.
The game was tied at 0-0 until the 6th when the Red Sox took the lead on a throwing error by John Lackey. Ells and Big Papi each had 2 hits in the game.
With the dominating performance by Dice-K tonight, the Red Sox suddenly have the best rotation in baseball. Going into the playoffs with Beckett, Lester, Buchholz, and Dice-K all pitching well could spell trouble for any team standing in their way.
After the game Matsuzaka talked about how he was feeling:
“On the road back I’ve been a burden on my teammates more than anything, and I feel that I owe them.”
The Rangers lost again so the Red Sox now lead the wild-card race by 5.5 games.
Red Sox Win 4-1 BOX SCORE
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| LA Angels | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 1 |
| Red Sox | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 0 |
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