Sport Redux: Mismatched Sox

Daisuke Matsuzaka, whose high pitch counts and low ERA give one the unsettling feeling of watching a chess master who mysteriously sacrifices all of his pawns before winning everything with his bishop and rook, won a tidy 8-0 shutout last night against the White Sox. Dice-K pitched eight innings, during which he struck out eight, walked two, and allowed two hits. The win improved his record to 16-2 and tied him with Hideo Nomo for the most wins by a Japanese native in a single MLB season. "I don't think that just reaching that number in and of itself has that much meaning," Matsuzaka told reporters.

He's right, of course. A pitcher's win-loss record is an accumulation of events outside of his control. But, with a WHIP of 1.33 and 80 walks on the season, his team-leading 16 wins are part of the Dice-K puzzle for Sox fans. It's a puzzle that's much more pleasurable to solve than Josh Beckett's 4.35 ERA or Clay Buccholz's major league collapse.

Speaking of Beckett, alarm bells went off when the fireballer ended up in the land of pitching injuries, a doctor's office in Alabama. Turns out everything's fine (except the aformentioned ERA). Beckett is on the 15-day DL retroactive to August 18th and is expected to pitch again on Friday.

Last night's blowout wouldn't have been possible without some offense, and the offense might not have gotten going without Dustin Pedroia. Lil' Dusty had a perfect game at the plate, going 4-4 with a walk, three runs and two stolen bases. (There is no column in the box score for f-bombs.) Dusty's three runs gave him 104 on the season, surpassing Bobby Doerr to hold the new team record at second base. Youk and Jason Bay had three RBIs a piece, and newcomer Mark Kotsay and David Ortiz each wound up with one.

Coco Crisp joined the legion of Red Sox who had to be bivouacked from Yankee Stadium and was scratched from the game with flulike symptoms. Jacoby Ellsbury, who filled in at center, didn't do much at the plate but was responsible for a fantastic catch in the first that robbed Orlando Cabrera of a hit.

Tonight, the Red Sox rely on rookie right hander Michael Bowden, just called up from Triple A, to keep the momentum going at Fenway. Bowden hasn't dominated in Pawtucket, but he has long been on Sox fans' radar as a prospect to watch. He faces off against Mark Buehrle (11-10) who gave up only one run over seven innings last time he saw the Red Sox.

The Rays and the Twins both won last night, leaving the Red Sox with little breathing room. They remain 4.5 games behind the Rays in the AL East and 2.5 games in front of the Twins for the Wild Card.

Today is the day that NFL rosters must be trimmed to 53. Get ready to say goodbye to the pretend Patriots.

Photo Copyright 2008, The Associated Press