After Lackey’s lackluster (pun intended) performance on Saturday, all of Red Sox Nation was collectively holding their breath when Daisuke Matsuzaka took the mound on Sunday afternoon against the Blue Jays. I’m an unapologetic Dice-K fan…and these days, I am in pretty lonely company.
Dice-K was pitching well, however at the same time the Blue Jays Litsch was no hitting the Red Sox up until the 6th inning. However, the Sox broke out in the 6th inning for 3 runs, powered by a double from Scutaro to break up the no-no, followed by back to back homeruns from Darnell McDonald and David Ortiz. Dice-K gave up a 2 run hr to Hill, but that is all the Blue Jays were able to get. Dice-K pitched 6 innings, 6 H, 2 ER, 5 K, and ZERO WALKS. You heard me…ZERO. Dice was followed by 2 shutout innings from Daniel Bard and Jonathan Papelbon recorded his 20th save of the season.
This kind of game is just what the Sox needed heading into the break. We got “Good Dice-K” on the mound, Papi hitting bombs, one of the miracle call-ups being productive and making a difference. A win like this can really leave us feeling good and positive about the second half coming up. The Yanks and Rays also won tonight…so we are sitting 5 games behind the Yankees and 3 games behind the Rays in the wild card race. Given the injuries we’ve had…I’ll take it.
Sox WIN 3-2 BOXSCORE
P.S. The game wasn’t all roses and sunshine. Adrian Beltre did leave the game in the 5th inning with an apparent injury. Hamstring pull. However, I don’t get the impression that it is incredibly serious. I listened to WEEI on my ride home from Pawtucket and they said that Beltre said he feels okay and still plans on going to the All Star Game and playing. Still. Injuries…umm…how about you go pick on someone else for a while?
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