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March 26, 2007

Matsuzaka puts up more zeroes; Hansen struggles

A record crowd brimming with Red Sox fans saw Daisuke Matsuzaka throw a lot of pitches without giving up a hit during his last spring training appearance in Florida.
The Cincinnati Reds? They weren't quite sure what they saw.

Matsuzaka didn't give up a hit in his five innings on Monday, but walked five and used his full assortment of pitches — many of them far out of the strike zone — during Boston's 5-0 loss to the Reds.

“I don't think he had his best stuff today,” Reds outfielder Adam Dunn said, before stopping himself. “I don't know. What am I saying? I've never seen the guy before in my life. But today, he's as advertised.

“He didn't have very good location today, and that probably made it a little easier on us. But he still got out of there with no hits.”

With his slow, deliberate motion, the right-hander known as Dice-K needed 102 pitches to get through five innings against Cincinnati's starting lineup. Ken Griffey Jr., playing only his second spring game after recovering from a broken hand, went 0-for-3 with a strikeout.

“We didn't get no hits, so obviously he did something,” said Griffey, who faced him in all three at-bats. “The first time you see a guy, he has the advantage over you. He's a guy who thinks his way through the lineup.”

The Red Sox have invested $103 million in the Japanese star — a $51 million bid to negotiate with him, and a $52 million contract over six years. In his last start, Matsuzaka gave up only one hit during 5 2-3 innings against Pittsburgh.

He didn't want to discuss his wild outing on Monday. Manager Terry Francona thinks Matsuzaka, who has a 2.04 earned run average, is trying to be perfect.

“He even said the other day after he pitched he wasn't satisfied,” Francona said. “You probably have to get used to it. Some of the way is probably the way he pushes himself when he does pitch well, and probably gets mad at himself when he's not as good as he thinks he should be.”

Approximately 75 reporters and photographers — half the number who attended Griffey's inaugural 2000 news conference with the Reds in Sarasota — showed up to see it. There were so many Red Sox fans in the crowd that Matsuzaka got a louder ovation during pregame introductions than Griffey did.

A crowd of 7,663, the largest in Ed Smith Stadium's 19 years, watched a slow-moving game that was scoreless until the seventh, when struggling reliever Craig Hansen gave up Cincinnati's first two hits and then couldn't control his pitches. He hit Ryan Freel's left hand to load the bases, then hit Jeff Conine to force in a run. A pair of walks forced in two more, and Javier Valentin's single off Kyle Snyder made it 5-0.

Left-hander Bobby Livingston, competing for the last spot in Cincinnati's rotation, gave up one hit in five innings, lowering his earned run average to 1.23.

--ASSOCIATED PRESS

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 3:30 PM to Red Sox | Permalink

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