Now that? That is the Matsuzaka we like to see. I guess that nerves are a legitimate excuse for pitching poorly because he was on today. He went six and two thirds innings and threw just under one hundred pitches. He struck out nine and didn't walk a single batter. He did give up a home run to Jack Cust in the second but the only other hit he allowed was a single by Kurt Suzuki in the third. It was a beautiful performance.
Papelbon also had a really stellar performance. He struck out all three batters he faced in the ninth inning.
Offensively, Youkilis had a really good night. He had three hits: two singles and a triple. He also scored both of Boston's runs (one off Ellsbury's base hit and one off Varitek's double.) Other bats besides Youkilis' decided to show up tonight; Ellsbury, Manny, Varitek, Coco, and Lugo each had a hit.
Besides his single, Varitek had a home run that was ruled a double. Don and Jerry seemed absolutely certain that it was a home run and it certainly seemed that way to me. A question though: Didn't they agree during the winter meetings to have video set up so they could do instant replays on suspicious home runs? Whatever happened to that plan?
Watching Foulke pitch to Varitek was a strange experience. I kept thinking: He must know exactly where that ball is supposed to go just from the way the ball comes out of Foulke's hand. And Varitek did get a base hit off him.
It was a good game though, well pitched on both sides. In the first four innings, Blanton allowed only two hits. He did have a wild pitch in the second (that moved Manny over to second) but no damage was caused as a result. He might have become a little bit flustered in the fifth because he walked Pedroia and he rarely walks anyone. But he stymied Ortiz and Lowell the three times each of them came up to bat.
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