Boston Red Sox 1 Toronto Blue Jays 2 (April 17, 2007)
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0 comments| W: | Gustavo Chacin | (2-0, 3.57) |
| L: | Daisuke Matsuzaka | (1-2, 2.70) |
| S: | Jason Frasor | (1, 1.23) |
Different opponent, different country, eerily similar results. The Red Sox offense wasted another great start from Daisuke Matsuzaka (L, 1-2) today, falling to Gustavo Chacin (W, 2-0) and the Toronto Blue Jays. Matsuzaka's pitching line looks fantastic: 6.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3 BB's, 10 K's, but a tough 38-pitch fourth inning was the trouble. In that fourth inning, Matsuzaka struggled with his controll all of a sudden, walking in a run and giving up a hit (that probably should have been an error on Julio Lugo, a fact that sent Joe Castiglione on WRKO ablaze about the apparent history of shoddy official scoring in Toronto) to Lyle Overbay on what appeared to be a double play ball. He held the Jays to two runs in an inning that could have been a whole lot worse, but it was enough this day.
Chacin continued his string of success against Boston (6-0 lifetime) -- their one run was on a monster home run by Wily Mo Pena in the top of the 3rd. With the win, the young lefty became the only pitcher in MLB history to have as many as 6 wins against the Red Sox with no losses. Greg Maddux is next on the list with 5. Jason Varitek also helped Chacin's cause by grounding into two double plays on the day.
Notes... Frank Thomas continued his slumping start, going 0-2 with 2K's... Boston relievers Hideki Okajima and Joel Pineiro combined for two perfect innings after Matsuzaka came out; Okajima struck out all three batters he faced... Matsuzaka became the first pitcher since Fernando Valenzuela to strike out 10 or more batters in his first three major league starts... Coco Crisp showed some signs of life at the plate, going 2-4 with a double... With the rainout earlier this week, Boston's rotation against the Yankees at Fenway Park later this week figures to be Curt Schilling, Josh Beckett, and Matsuzaka.
Coming Up Next... Tim Wakefield takes the mound at the Rogers Centre tomorrow to try to get the Sox back on track. He'll face Toronto's Tomo Ohka.
Date
April 17, 2007
