« Game Story: Road woes continue for PawSox
Main
Sox Streakers for June 23 »
June 23, 2007
BY SEAN McADAM
Journal Sports Writer
SAN DIEGO – This was the Master vs. the Student -- one starting pitcher looking for career win No. 340 and the other with a career victory total not yet in double figure.
But following a harrowing first inning, the rookie got the last laugh against the legend.
Daisuke Matsuzaka needed 35 more pitches than Greg Maddux to record the same number of outs – 18, over six innings – but earned the win the ageless Maddux couldn’t. Run-scoring singles from Kevin Youkilis and Jason Varitek produced the only two runs of support for Matsuzaka, and they were enough as the Sox won their third in a row and sixth in their last seven, 2-1 over the San Diego Padres Friday night.
Matsuzaka won his second straight decision and contributed his fourth straight quality start. The Sox have scored a meager four runs in his last four outings, but Matsuzaka has managed to win the two most recent.
Pitching in Petco Park for the first time since winning the championship game of the inaugural World Baseball Classic in March of 2006, Matsuzaka walked the first three hitters he faced, loading the bases with nobody out.
But after yielding a run-scoring single to Michael Barrett with one out, Matsuzaka dug in and limited the damage by striking out Khalil Greene and getting Russell Branyan on a flyout.
''I tried to get off to a gentle start,'' said Matsuzaka, ''and that clearly didn’t go so well. After getting into the jam, I told myself, 'Maybe one run would be permissible here,' and that’s how I approached that tight spot.''
''The game was almost decided in the first,'' said manager Terry Francona. ''He stopped them flat (after the three walks) and let us peck away. We scored two and made it hold up.''
Matsuzaka’s 32-pitch first, however, took its toll. By the time he struck out Marcus Giles with a 94 mph fastball to end the sixth, he had run his pitch count to 126, deemed sufficient by Francona.
'' 'Savvy’ would be a good word to describe him,'' said Francona of his starter. ''He may be new here, but he knows how to pitch.''
Javy Lopez and Manny Delcarmen combined to get through the seventh. Hideki Okajima tossed a perfect eighth with two strikeouts and Jonathan Papelbon earned his 17th save in 18 opportunities in the ninth, striking out the Padres’ best hitter, Adrian Gonzalez, with the potential tying run on base.
Maddux, meanwhile, displayed his typical pinpoint control, walking just one intentionally in six innings and needing just 91 pitches through that span. But in the fourth, the Sox began to get to him. After Dustin Pedroia led with a single to right and Maddux got David Ortiz on a twisting pop-up to left, three straight Red Sox hitters lined singles up the middle.
The last two, from Youkilis and Varitek, scored Pedroia and Manny Ramirez.
''Maddux has been doing this for a long time,'' said Francona in admiration. ''But we got some balls up and through the infield (in the fourth) and it was enough. If we pitch (well), we always have a chance to win.''
The Sox have done more than pitch well of late; they’ve dominated. They've only allowed one run in the last 28 innings, dating back to the eighth inning of Monday night's road-trip opener in Atlanta.
Playing in the best pitcher’s park in baseball, the Sox collected just one hit over the final three innings – an infield single from Coco Crisp -- against the typically stingy San Diego bullpen.
But Boston’s bullpen was equally effective. The key might have been the work of Delcarmen.
After Lopez got Jose Cruz Jr. to groundout to third to open the seventh, Gonzalaez followed with a single to left. Delcarmen came on to face the Padres’ fourth and fifth hitters, Mike Cameron and Barrett, with little margin for error.
He got Cameron on a popup to third and Barrett on a liner directly at Crisp in center.
''He threw the ball well, with velocity, and located,'' said Francona. ''And he did it with the game on the line. That’s got to be good for his confidence and ours, too (in him).''
The Sox improved to 11-5 in interleague play this season and improved to 24-13 on the road, the best away mark in the majors.
Posted by Sean McAdam 
at 2:14 AM | Permalink
