If Dice-K Stays OK, Matsuzaka Could Make Red Sox Rotation Formidable

BOSTON -- Andy Pettitte was being scratched from his next start.

Jarrod Washburn was leaving his with a bad knee.

And meanwhile Tuesday, Daisuke Matsuzaka was shutting down the Angels.

There's reason to believe the Red Sox may have the deepest rotation in the AL playoff field once the postseason starts.

Of course, Matsuzaka has to keep it up. One reason Boston shut him down and made him start from scratch, rebuilding the strength in his shoulder that was sapped by the World Baseball Classic, is that he couldn't maintain his stuff from start to start.

But if six innings/no runs/three hits against the Angels -- the Red Sox's likely ALDS opponents -- is a harbinger, Boston will have the best No. 4 starter in the postseason."Boy, I tell you, man, having Dice-K back, throwing the way he did the ball tonight ... I'm thinking about going to the playoffs right now."
-- Red Sox DH David Ortiz

"It was a blast to play behind," left fielder Jason Bay said. "Given the uncertainty we have in the four and five spots .... that would be huge.

"We're not talking about a guy who's never done it. We're talking about a guy who won 18 games last year and has electric stuff."

Nos. 1-3 seem set. Josh Beckett, Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz have combined to go 6-1 with a 2.14 ERA this month.

But Tim Wakefield has a bad back and, although he threw in the bullpen Tuesday and is tentatively scheduled to start next Monday, is "certainly not getting better," according to manager Terry Francona. And Paul Byrd is a 38-year-old soft-tosser who sat out the first four months of the season and has a career 5.40 ERA in the playoffs.

So Boston needs Dice-K in October.

Francona tried to dampen expectations before the game, saying, "I hope he has a great game. But regardless, I think the process is more important. That's why we stopped him from pitching. Because we needed to figure it out. I think we did the right thing.

"If he throws six shutout innings tonight, that would be terrific. But if he doesn't, that doesn't mean it was wrong or didn't work."

Well, Francona actually got the six shutout innings.

"I thought he was terrific," Francona said. "He stayed in his delivery for the entire night. He looked like he had some life on his fastball, without effort.

"It's a huge shot in the arm for us."

Matsuzaka showed some of his usual frustrating form, throwing just seven of 24 first pitches for strikes and at times missing his target by a good measure. But he threw a high percentage of fastballs, only allowed one runner to reach third base and, after going to three balls on five of his first 14 batters, didn't reach a three-ball count over the next nine.

Of course, when he went 18-3 last year, he was constantly wriggling out of bad counts and jams. He's simply an unusual pitcher.

He added another twist Tuesday when, from the second inning on, he threw the first three of his eight warmup pitches from behind the mound.

"We noticed that too," Francona said, "but it seemed to be working -- so stay out of the way."

Said pitching coach John Farrell: "Dice-K is Dice-K for a number of reasons."

Apparently Matsuzaka used to do that when he was dominating Japanese baseball. But he didn't even tell catcher Jason Varitek it was coming.

Varitek didn't care. He was more pleased to see Matsuzaka wave his cap to a standing ovation as he departed Tuesday, after a leadoff walk in the seventh.

In his previous home start, June 19, Matsuzaka had been booed.

It was after that the Red Sox made the decision to shut down Matsuzaka. And it took almost three months to work his way back.

"It's a hard thing to do during the season," Francona said, "but I think we all felt it was not just in his best interest but it was needed. And he did a good job with it.

"The biggest thing we saw, I think, earlier in the season was he was trying to reach back for velocity, and then because of that, he wasn't commanding very well. So now hopefully there will be less effort in getting to that velocity that's good enough to get major league hitters out so he can command better."

And maybe Matsuzaka had a little motivation.

"On the road back I've been a burden on my teammates more than anything," he said through an interpreter, "and I feel that I owe them."

He paid them back with one of the top five starts, statistically, against the Angels this year.

"The way he threw tonight," Farrell said, "was very comparable to the majority of '07 and the time in '08 from late May on after he came back from a stint on the DL. The main thing was the life in the body and the explosiveness. When he's able to do that without any restrictions, you know he feels good."

Matsuzaka has shown what he can do. The next step is doing it over and over.

"I think we all feel like it's realistic," Francona said, "that he can come back his next start and -- not necessarily match the numbers -- but be the same pitcher. That's what we're really shooting for."

If so, stack Matsuzaka up against the other No. 4 starters on playoff teams. Joba Chamberlain, who's basically going through spring training again? Washburn? Joe Saunders or Scott Kazmir? Kyle Lohse or John Smoltz? Whatever Dodger is left standing? Jason Hammel?

"Boy, I tell you, man," David Ortiz said, "having Dice-K back, throwing the way he did the ball tonight ... I'm thinking about going to the playoffs right now."