Red Sox 4-1, FINAL: Welcome home, Daisuke. All is forgiven.
End 8th, Red Sox 4-0: The Red Sox are salting this one away, with J.D. Drew hitting a one-out triple, Jason Bay scoring him with a single (before being thrown out at second), then David Ortiz adding a solo homer to pass Frank Thomas for most career homers by a DH with 270.
Mid 8th, Red Sox 2-0: Daniel Bard comes on to face Vladimir Guerrero with two out and a runner at first and gets his man the hard way. Vladdy rips the ball up the middle — off Bard's bare hard — and onto Alex Gonzalez, who makes an acrobatic flip to Dustin Pedroia for the inning-ending force.
End 7th, Red Sox 2-0: Billy Wagner is coming on to pitch the eighth, setting the table for Jonathan Papelbon in the ninth.
Mid 7th, Red Sox 2-0: Ramirez handles his inning flawlessly, giving Matsuzaka a final line of 6+ innings, three hits, three walks and five strikeouts. The Red Sox could not have asked for a better performance.
9:01 p.m.: After a leadoff walk to Morales in the seventh, Francona makes the long walk to the mound, and Matsuzaka makes a triumphant walk back to the dugout, tipping his cap to acknowledge a standing ovation. Ramon Ramirez is on in relief.
End 6th, Red Sox 2-0: The Red Sox add a second run on David Ortiz' one-out single to left, but with the bases loaded and a chance to bust the game wide open, Mike Lowell and Casey Kotchman strike out to end the inning. Still, two runs with nine outs to go seems enough this night.
8:47 p.m.: The Red Sox out-Angel the Angels to take a 1-0 lead and threaten for more. After Alex Gonzalez leads off with a single, Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia both bunt and both reach. Ellsbury's bunt rolls perfectly inside the first base line for a single, then Lackey throws wildly to third on Pedroia's bunt, allowing Gonzalez to score and the runners to move into scoring position with nobody out.
Mid 6th, 0-0: In a tribute to the performance Matsuzaka has put together tonight, even with his pitch count rising into the high 80s – the max in any of his rehab outings – and a runner at second with one out, Terry Francona never got anyone up in the bullpen. This is Dice-K's game, and he responds again with a strikeout and line drive to Lowell at third to end the inning.
End 5th, 0-0: At some point, presumably, the Red Sox will get a runner to second base. Casey Kotchman's single makes it five straight innings with a baserunner, but Jason Varitek makes it 2 of 5 with an inning-ending double play.
Mid 5th, 0-0: Matsuzaka allows two hits in the inning, but the fifth turns out to be his most impressive showing of the five. With one out, Erick Aybar singled Morales to third, then stole second. But faced with his first dire situation of the night, Matsuzaka rises to the occassion, striking out Jeff Mathis and Chone Figgins to end the inning. Dice-K was only at 91 mph on his fastball, but his command of the breaking ball has made the fastball more effective, which has always been Matsuzaka's calling card.
8:18 p.m.: Kendry Morales breaks up the most improbable no-hit bid of the season, leading off the fifth with a solid single to right field.
End 4th, 0-0: Quite a duel tonight between Matsuzaka and Lackey. The Angels' right-hander has allowed one baserunner in each of his four innings, but none have advanced past first. Only one runner has been as far second base tonight: Chone Figgins in the first inning.
Mid 4th, 0-0: Gotta wonder what the Angels are thinking after four no-hit innings from a guy with an 8+ ERA who hasn't pitched in three months. The Angels know they're getting the Red Sox in the Division Series, and they're being reminded, once again, how feeble they are against them.
End 3rd, 0-0: Lackey is right there with Dice-K throught three, allowing a runner each inning, but not allowing any to reach second. Jacoby Ellsbury tried with a two-out steal attempt, but Jeff Mathis easily gunned him down to end the inning.
Mid 3rd, 0-0: Ladies and gentlemen, we have our No. 4 starter in the Division Series. Maybe our No. 3. Dice-K will take a no-hitter into the fourth inning, having allowed just two walks over the first three innings. In between the two walks — both to Chone Figgins — Dice-K retired eight in a row. This is about as impressive as he's looked in his entire Red Sox career, and that's saying something.
End 2nd, 0-0: The loss of Kevin Youkilis and Victor Martinez from the lineup puts even more pressure on Matsuzaka to perform well in his return start. Casey Kotchman, filling in at first base, hits into an inning-ending double play.
Mid 2nd, 0-0: History has just been made at Fenway Park: Daisuke Matsuzaka just threw a seven-pitch, 1-2-3 inning. Wow.
End 1st, 0-0: John Lackey isn't going to win any Wakefield speed-pitching awards, either. Only 13 of his 23 pitches in the first inning were strikes. But he allowed just one hit — a Dustin Pedroia single — and struck out Jason Bay to end the inning. This could be the longest 0-0 game in baseball history tonight (nine-inning variety).
Mid 1st, 0-0: Well, that was vintage Dice-K. After the leadoff walk, Matsuzaka gets out of it with two groundouts and a fly out to deep left. He certainly didn't give in to any hitter, throwing 9 of 18 pitches for balls. But the Angels didn't score, and that's all that matters.
7:14 p.m.: Matsuzaka gets ahead of leadoff hitter Chone Figgins 0-and-2, then walks him. Uh-oh.
7:10 p.m.: Dice-K is taking his warm-up tosses and we're ready to start his season over again. Wipe that 1-5, 8.29 off the board. All that matters is the next few weeks.
7:05 p.m.: Circle June 18, 2010 on your calendar. That's when the Dodgers come to Fenway Park in Interleague play. Wonder if Manny Ramirez will DH, or will Joe Torre subject him to all sorts of abuse in left field. As for the Yankee highlights of the schedule, the season opens at Fenway against the rivals April 5, and ends at Fenway Oct. 1-3.
6:20 p.m.: The Red Sox are a little shorthanded tonight, with Kevin Youkilis out of the lineup with lower back spasms and Victor Martinez in Cleveland dealing with a personal issue. Casey Kotchman plays first tonight.
Martinez is not expected back until Thursday at the earliest, while Youkilis, who was checked out at Mass General this afternoon, is day-to-day. Youkilis' back pain was so severe, the team first suspected kidney stones.
3 p.m.: With the wild card looking increasingly likely — the lead over Texas at 4 1/2 with 20 to play — the Red Sox can start taking more than just a passing glance toward October. Their postseason plans figure to get a long look tonight, as Daisuke Matsuzaka makes his heralded return to the mound at Fenway Park in a Division Series preview against the Angels.
Barring a miracle comeback in the division, or a total free-fall by the Angels, who lead Detroit by nine games for home field against the wild card Red Sox, this is the first-round matchup for the third year in a row and fourth time since 2004. If all goes as the Red Sox hope, Matsuzaka will be the fourth starter in that series, after Josh Beckett, Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz.
The right-hander figures to get four auditions before the end of the regular season, four chances to reclaim a lost season and regain the confidence of his teammates, coaches and fanbase. Just like fellow 2007 free agent J.D. Drew, the regular season is forgotten if an October memory is made. Dice-K can lay the groundwork for that, starting tonight.
