When Red Sox manager Terry Francona announced that Daisuke Matsuzaka would be the ALCS game 1 starter, many Red Sox fans questioned the move. Why not start Jon Lester or Josh Beckett? I'll admit, that I didn't have much confidence in the Dice-Man going into tonight but he proved me and many of my fellow Masshole brethren wrong by spinning a gem.
Boston shutout Tampa Bay, 2-0 as Dice-K threw seven scoreless innings. In true Dice-K fashion, he never made it look easy yet he was spectacular. He walked the bases loaded in the first but got out of the jam. He had a no-hitter through six innings before Carl Crawford singled to lead off the seventh. In 7+ innings, Matsuzaka gave up four hits, walked four and struck out nine.
He ended up throwing 115 pitches and Francona made the curious decision to leave him in to start the eighth (instead of a reliever?) but was bailed out by Justin Masterson who got slumping rookie Evan Longoria to ground into an inning ending double play.
The Red Sox scored a run in the fifth as Jed Lowrie's sacrifice fly brought home Jason Bay. Kevin Youkilis (3 hits) added the key insurance RBI in the eighth as his shot to left was dropped by Crawford. Dustin Pedroia (run, hit, walk, stolen base) scored on Youkilis' double.
Tampa Bay starter James Shields was good. He lasted 7.1 innings, giving up two earned runs on six hits with two walks and six strikeouts.
Jonathan Papelbon got a 1-2-3 ninth inning with two strikeouts for the save. He's now set a major league record by going 20-2/3 scoreless postseason innings to start his career.
Back to Francona's gutsy call on Dice-K that paid off. By starting Dice-K in game 1, Francona was stacking the deck (on normal rest) by pitching Josh Beckett in game 2 and Jon Lester back at Fenway in game 3. In essence, this was a game the Rays had to have since you'd have to bet that Beckett will only improve on his start vs. the Angels and Lester has been the most dominant starter in the playoffs this season.
I wouldn't call Saturday night a must-win for the Rays since they've defied so many expectations this season but it's mighty close. If they lose and/or if Beckett shakes off some of the rest, they're done. Lester in game 3 is almost a given. Scott Kazmir (who's struggled for most of the second half and in his start against the White Sox last week) gets the ball for Tampa at the Trop.
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