Rollin' the Dice

Matsuzaka Outduels Cain

Daisuke Matsuzaka threw 7 shutout innings to lead the Boston Red Sox to a 1-0 victory over the San Francisco Giants this afternoon. Matsuzaka bedazzled Red Sox fans by scattering 3 hits and striking out 8 Giants batters. Daisuke was a little wild throwing just 50% of his 112 pitches for strikes and walking three batters, but pitched himself out of the jams that he got himself into. Matsuzaka got himself out of his largest jam by striking out Rich Aurillia looking with two outs in the sixth inning, after hitting rookie outfielder, Nate Schierholtz, with a pitch to load the bases. Hideki Okajima relieved Matsuzaka in the 8th inning and quickly got himself into his own jam when he walked Randy Winn and gave up a single to Ray Durham. With no outs Okajima fell behind Barry Bonds 2-0, but the little lefthander with a big heart came back to strike out the mighty Bonds on three straight pitches. Okajima ended the inning by getting Bengie Molina to line out to shortstop Alex Cora and inducing a weak ground ball off the bat of Kevin Frandsen for the final out. Jon Papelbon came out from the bullpen for the ninth and shut the door for his 15th save of the season.

Matsuzaka improved his record to 8-5 with the victory. He now has a 4.13 ERA and is 5th among all AL pitchers in strikeouts with a grand total of 93. In three June starts, Daisuke has pitched 20 innings, stiking out 25 batters and compiling a 2.25 ERA.

Matt Cain, the opposing pitcher for the Giants was almost as good as Daisuke, scattering 3 hits over 7 innings. Unluckily for Cain, one of the hits was a rocket off the bat of Manny Ramirez into the Monster seats. Cain's record for the season is now 2-7 altough he has pitched very well in his second full Major League Season. The 22 year old has 3.15 ERA and a 1.26 whip. He has struck out 63 batters in 91.1 innings pitched. He has been a victim of poor run support coming from an awful Giants lineup. According to Rotoworld the Giants are 2-12 in games that Cain has pitched and have scored an average of 2.33 runs in those starts.

Cain was the Giants #1 pick (25th Overall) in 2002. He throws a heavy fastball that sits in the mid-90's complemented by a solid changeup and sharp curve. Cain's one flaw, which is a problem with a lot of young pitchers is his control. If he can improve that facet of his game there is no doubt in my mind that he will be a legit #1 starter for many years.

RANDOM NOTES

- Did you see the brawl between the Padres and the Cubs at Wrigley today? Chris Young dusted Derek Lee in the fourth inning and they got into it, exchanging blows on the first base line. Suprise, Surprise, Carlos Zambrano had to be restrained from dishing out some blows.

- Speaking of Zambrano.....Since Koyie Hill started catching him after his altercation with Michael Barret 3 starts ago, he has gone 2-1 with a 1.14 ERA.