Well we've all seen flashes of brilliance from Daisuke. And we've all seen the kind of bizarre performance he staged last night. Seriously, why does anyone swing at any pitch from this guy?
Matsuzaka walked 8 batters in 4.2 innings. He faced 24 batters, and walked a third of them. He threw 112 pitches, only 60 strikes and 52 balls. But hey, he only allowed 2 singles and no other hits.
The shortness of the outing brought in Joe Nelson, whose very entrance in a game diminishes the Sox' chance of winning by about 40%. I'm just guessing at that figure, but I dare anyone to prove me wrong.
The offense was equally inept. Bill Hall hit a solo shot in the 5th. JD Drew knocked in a run with a double in the 6th. Beltre had an RBI single back in the 4th. But the Sox hardly got any baserunners against the great Brian Bannister, then the vaunted Royals' bullpen. In fact, the KC bullpen pitched 3 perfect innings of relief.
It's difficult to be negative and pessimistic after what the Sox did in Tampa Bay and Philadelphia. But this was a vintage Daisuke disappointer. Then the bullpen couldn't keep the deficit stable. And the offense didn't do enough to win, against subpar pitching.
Tim Wakefield opposes Kyle Davies tonight.
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