Sports Redux: Time to Check Daisuke's Eyes?

Daisuke Matsuzaka is a very rich man because he is an elite pitcher. He was, or should be. We think. His 1-5 mark and 8.23 ERA, made worse by an 8-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves on Friday, isn't good enough. What Tony Massarotti termed "The Dice-K Dilemma" is now at hand. Theo and Terry Francona are now faced with baseball's version of the Kobayashi Maru.

Kenshin Kawakami outpicthed his higher-paid and more highly regarded countryman, and that's a part of the problem. No offense intended to Kawakamisan, but this Red Sox team shouldn't be stymied by him. It's not a huge surprise the bats were silent because in games Daisuke started that the Red Sox lost, they scored three or fewer runs four times. David Ortiz is 1-24 in games Daisuke lost. Take what you will from those facts.

The first out of the first inning was recorded by Atlanta's sixth batter. Nate McClouth took Daisuke's first pitch to Williamsburg. After a single, double and two walks, the Braves led 2-0, had the bases loaded and no outs. Daisuke somehow got out of the inning down just 2-0. The next two innings featured the Daisuke Matsuzaka circa 2008. Not perfect or dominant, but good enough to keep Atlanta's Braves from scoring. In the fourth and fifth innings, Daisuke allowed four runs on four hits and the Sox were in a 6-0 hole they never climbed out of.

Jason Bay was the only batter who showed up as he delivered two hits, a home run and two RBI. He leads the American League with 65 RBI. McLouth finished 2-4 with two RBI. Garret Anderson was 3-3 with four RBI.

Saturday is here and that means Josh Beckett faces Derek Lowe. Hopefully, Lowe has been enjoying Boston, which could facilitate a victory.

If you like Wade Boggs and the Lowell Spinners then today is also your day. Boggs is scheduled to serve beer as part of the club's opening weekend. Boggs will be located at the Miller/Coors Hut on the first-base concourse. Boggs apparently hates steroids, too.

Tom Brady's recent foray into kayaking was a failure but it wasn't the first time a Boston athlete made news while boating. Michael Silver covers the NFL for Yahoo! Sports and in the latest of his consistently provocative columns, he reminded us that Nomar Garciaparra once made news in Boston's waters. But, Nomar did the rescuing in that case.

The United Football League exists. Just so you know. They have coaches and stuff. The UFL even had a draft for actual players, including East Boston's own Jermaine Wiggins, who contributed mightily to the Pats 2001 Super Bowl win.

Bostonist leaves you on an up note. Check out Josh Womack's amazing bat trick. Womack plays for the Long Beach Armada of the independent Golden Baseball League.

Photo by flickr user thatsunpossible.