Posts tagged DaisukeMatsuzaka at FanHouse

Tim Wakefield got hammered, and the Red Sox scored just one run before the game was completely out of reach, as the Rays beat Boston 13-4 to take a 3-1 series lead. The Red Sox can send their three best pitchers to the mound over the next three games, but they have a very deep hole to climb out of.

The Red Sox have been here before, kind of. 2004 was a once in a lifetime thing, and that was a completely different team. They were down 3-1 to the Indians last year, but that was a much more favorable situation, as they had a healthy Josh Beckett going in Game 5, and then returned home for the final two games. This year, they've got Daisuke Matsuzaka -- who is good, but walks far too many guys, doesn't go deep enough into games, and is far inferior to the '07 version of Beckett -- going in the fifth game, and then would potentially head back to Tampa for the last two games.

That being said, it's not impossible. Thursday night's matchup favors Boston, and then they'll have to hope Jon Lester shakes off his Game 3 performance and returns to his normal self in the sixth game. Game 7 will be the toughest, as they really don't know what they'll get from Beckett at this point. Taken by themselves, no single game is too daunting a task, but winning all three will be quite a challenge.

In the Playoff Pulse Series, our MLB editor takes on a hot October topic.

There's something fitting, or poetic, or maybe even perfect about Boston's season coming down to a start by Tim Wakefield. Putting your season in the hands of a knuckleball pitcher like Wakefield is a bit like betting a year's salary on black at the roulette table -- it's an awful lot to wage on just one thing, but the odds aren't all that bad.

Wakefield is unique -- the one true practicing knuckleballer with a regular gig in the major leagues right now. When he's on, you wish there were more pitchers around like him, but part of his success comes from the fact that he's a complete novelty. For all the talk about Jamie Moyer being a crafty, soft-tossing veteran, Wakefield has been around nearly as long as Moyer and he throws even softer.

He has arguably the best contract in baseball, a never-ending team option for $4 million a year. That's tremendous value for a back-of-the-rotation starting pitcher. Wakefield can be even more than that when the knuckler is fluttering in the wind. Of course, things can turn quickly on him if his signature pitch starts to rotate and flatten out. The 2003 ALCS is a perfect example -- ha baffled the Yankees in two starts and was on his way to being series MVP, and then Aaron Boone got a hold of one of the bad knuckleballs.

From the Windup is FanHouse's daily, extended look at a particular portion of America's pastime.

Before the season MLB FanHouse ran a series entitled "Old Boss/New Boss," in which possible new-school rivalries were discussed. Josh Alper covered a possible development in the AL East involving the Rays. See, we knew this year's group was feisty enough to make some noise on and off the field ... we just missed which large market team would step forward.

Well, we know now. The Tampa Bay Rays and the Boston Red Sox have a burgeoning rivalry. Just check out a few elements that create a true rivalry.

- The "we don't like each other" factor. Well, they've had this for quite a while. Go back to the Gerald Williams-Pedro Martinez fight and a few other dust-ups from in recent history. With these two specific groups, you had a huge brawl in Beantown this year when Coco Crisp went after James Shields to conclude a series worth of incidents... only to smugly accuse the Rays of fighting "like girls" in post-game interviews. The fight was unlike most, because you had two teams really wanting to fight each other. Usually there are like three dudes brawling and everyone else standing around. Not this one, it was the dictionary definition of a brawl. These teams do not like each other one bit, and I love it.

If I were writing a map to success for the Red Sox in the ALCS before last night's game, it would've read something like this: "Win Game 1 to force the Rays to have to beat Josh Beckett or Jon Lester to avoid a 3-0 deficit." A pretty simple outline, but with the Red Sox winning last night, suddenly getting back into this series seems like a daunting task for the Rays.

Really, just winning a game in the funhouse that is Tropicana Field is a big achievement for the Sox. I understand that the park draws a huge number of Red Sox fans, but it's not like that wsn't true during the season and the Rays still won eight of nine at home against Boston. By equalling their season win total at Tropicana Field in Game 1, the Red Sox have assured themselves they don't have to win another game there and they can still go to the World Series.

The best thing the Sox can do to the talented young Rays team in this series is put pressure on them. They've played the Red Sox a lot, but they've never been in this situation before. This is the first time in franchise history they've been down in a playoff series and they're facing the best post-season pitcher in recent history and the best pitcher in baseball right now in the next two days. Consider the pressure applied.

In the Playoff Pulse series, our MLB editor takes on a hot October topic.

Over the course of his Game 1 start in the ALCS, Daisuke Matsuzaka managed to sum up his entire season brilliantly. He started horribly and flirted with disaster -- completely unable to find the strike zone -- but he somehow escaped. Then he got on a roll. A few innings later the only thing he was flirting with was a no-hitter and his team was scraping its way toward an unlikely win and the inside track on a World Series berth.

That's just life on the edge with Matsuzaka -- at some point you simply run out of ways to explain how or why he is successful.

He handed out 94 free passes during the regular season, yet managed to work his way into fringe consideration for the Cy Young Award by going 18-3 and posting a 2.90 ERA.

On Friday night, he threw 27 pitches in the first inning and loaded the bases, but wiggled out of it without allowing a run. He pulled a similar trick in the seventh inning, navigating out of a runners-on-the-corners, no-out jam to keep the Rays scoreless.

Personal history and numbers don't always guide on-field performance, but they can give us a quick insight into who carries the advantage -- if ever so slight -- into a particular game. Tale O' Tape breaks down the starting pitchers to find an edge.

Game 1 of a much anticipated "David and Goliath" like ALCS pits Daisuke Matsuzaka of the Red Sox against the Ray's James Shields. Let's check the stat lines ...

Daisuke Matsuzaka

Personally - Dice-K's old school Cy Young numbers (18-3, 2.90) appear stellar, and he was quite solid from start to finish. On the flip-side, he struggles with control often. He's walked 94 batters in only 167 2/3 innings, and only averages 5 2/3 innings per start due to pitch counts piling up. He does good stuff, but the pecking around the strike zone puts an awful lot of pressure on the bullpen. His ALDS outing was less than acceptable, allowing eight hits, three walks, and three earned runs through only five innings.

Road Splits - He actually had phenomenal road numbers in the regular season. The ERA is a minuscule 2.37, and his record was 9-0. Once again, the low point is the 40 walks in 76 innings. He only gave up 48 hits, so it seems like he just needs to trust his stuff and not worry about being so fine with his location.

The ALCS begins tonight. With the Red Sox and Rays getting ready to face off, the MLB FanHouse crew took some time to discuss the important issues of the series. Are the Rays too inexperienced? Does it matter that they don't have a closer? Do they stand a chance against the defending world champs?

Pat Lackey: This really is about as David and Goliath as baseball playoff series gets, isn't it? I know the Rays weren't intimidated by the White Sox, but I think there's more of a potential for them to be starstruck in this round. Not to use a gratuitous hockey/Pittsburgh comparison, but this match-up reminds me a lot of the Stanley Cup Finals in June where the young Penguins blew threw the Eastern Conference without serious challenge and met the experienced Red Wings in the Finals. The Pens played the Wings even for the final four games of the series, but they were starstruck and got blown off the ice in the first two and by the time they pulled it together, it was too late. There's certainly the potential for that to happen here, isn't there?

International Pastime looks at baseball's influence outside the U.S.

You've probably noticed over the last few years there have been a lot more players in MLB with names that are hard to pronounce, or just sound dirty. Yes, Japan is quickly becoming the new Latin America as just about every team these days is adding a Japanese player to their roster.

It's hard to blame them for it, as guys like Ichiro Suzuki, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Hideki Matsui, and Akinori Iwamura are proving themselves to be pretty good players. It's also nice to have a Kosuke Fukudome around for a fan base to blame for everything.

Of course, on the flip side of this equation is Japan. Due to the amount of Japanese players crossing the Pacific for the honor of facing off against John Lannan and the Washington Nationals, it's leaving the Japanese league a little thin. Which is why they've decided to implement a new policy in hopes of keeping players from leaving the island.

An executive committee representing Japan's 12 professional baseball teams have agreed to introduce a ban on players returning to Japanese baseball after turning down rookie draft nominations in Japan and signing with overseas pro teams.

In the Playoff Pulse series, our MLB editor takes on a hot October topic.

The White Sox and Angels avoided playoff oblivion Sunday night, but the odds remain long that either team will be able to advance to the American League Championship Series. Still, it's been done before. The Yankees came back from a 2-0 deficit in the division series against Oakland and the very Red Sox that Los Angeles is facing have climbed out of a similar hole twice.

So which trailing team has the best chance at coming all the way back to win their series?

First, let's take a look at the Game 4 pitching matchups. Of course, the team with the best chance to win two games will have the best shot at coming back in the series, but Monday's games are of paramount importance. After all, there is no Game 5 without a victory in Game 4.

In the Playoff Pulse series, our MLB editor takes on a hot October topic.

If the Angels can't beat the Red Sox this time around, they might never get a chance to. We heard that sentiment an awful lot coming into the ALDS. Boston was the wild card; Los Angeles was the 100-game winner. The mighty Red Sox were banged up -- potentially without J.D. Drew, Mike Lowell and ace Josh Beckett; the Angels were well-rested thanks to an enormous division lead and deeper than ever after a deadline deal for slugger Mark Teixeira.

Consider Game 2 the final indication: This incarnation of the Angels doesn't look like it's ever going to beat the Red Sox in a meaningful October series.

A's GM Billy Beane opined in "Moneyball" that his "s--- doesn't work in the playoffs." Angels GM Tony Reagins and manager Mike Scioscia could easily say the same thing when it comes to facing Boston.

After all, what else can the Halos do to beat the Red Sox in October? They've lost 11 straight postseason games to Boston, but more pertinently, they've lost five in a row in the playoffs over the last two years to this collection of talent.