Final
Blue Jays' Chacin outduels Matsuzaka
Apr 18, 2007 - 3:55 AM TORONTO (Ticker) -- A good night for the Far East was trumped by a better one for the AL East.Japanese import Daisuke Matsuzaka was upstaged for the second straight game as the Boston Red Sox dropped a 2-1 decision to the Toronto Blue Jays.
Gustavo Chacin (2-0) scattered six hits and allowed one run in 6 1/3 innings to outduel Matsuzaka and run his lifetime record against Boston to 6-0.
In his previous outing, Matsuzaka (1-2) lost a 3-0 decision to Seattle and righthanded phenom Felix Hernandez, who carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning.
"I don't know if the fact that the opposing pitchers are competing against me leads them to perform at any higher level, but I can admit that in both games both starting pitchers were pitching very well," Matsuzaka said through an interpreter.
This time, the Japanese righthander couldn't overcome one bad inning - much of his own doing - to spoil his second 10-strikeout effort in three starts and end Boston's three-game winning streak.
Facing a division rival for the first time, Matsuzaka walked three batters in a two-run fourth and watched a hard ground ball go right past the glove of shortstop Julio Lugo.
With one out and Vernon Wells aboard via a single in the fourth, Matsuzaka appeared to get rattled when he failed to get a called third strike on designated hitter Frank Thomas and wound up walking him.
"I think I was a little bit over-conscious of Thomas' at-bat and I lost a little bit of control there and put myself in a tough spot," Matsuzaka said. "Obviously I was very disappointed in myself, but at the same time I told myself to not let any more runs score."
Lyle Overbay followed by ripping a hard one-hopper that Lugo failed to get a glove on, plating Wells with the tying run. While it was ruled a hit, Lugo also could have turned an inning-ending double play or at the least knocked the ball down.
Matsuzaka followed by issuing consecutive walks to Aaron Hill and Gregg Zaun to force in the go-ahead run for the Blue Jays.
"It seemed like Matsuzaka got wild in that one inning and we took advantage of it," Overbay said. "That's not going to happen very often where he kind of struggles so you've got to take full advantage of it."
"It's like he had a bout of temporary amnesia," Boston manager Terry Francona said. "He was so good before and so good after. That was a long inning. For four or five hitters he lost the touch. It's a shame because he was so good before and after."
In the decisive frame, Matsuzaka threw 38 pitches - 19 for strikes - before regrouping to strike out the side in the fifth en route to joining Fernando Valenzuela as the only pitchers to strike out 10 twice in his first three major league starts.
"Even if I pitch well and the team does not win, I'm definitely not happy with the result," Matsuzaka said. "We came in here having won a few games in a row and I'm very disappointed that we couldn't keep that streak going. The wait of the loss as a team weighs upon me much more heavily than my own loss a pitcher."
Matsuzaka allowed the two runs and three hits while walking three in six innings. Fellow Japanese pitcher Hideki Okajima relieved Matsuzaka and struck out the side in the seventh, giving the Red Sox 13 strikeouts from their two new acquisitions.
"I thought both pitchers were very good," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "Chacin did a heck of a job and you could tell (Matsuzaka's) good. He lost a little bit in that one inning but he's a good pitcher."
Chacin's only mistake was a towering solo home run by Wily Mo Pena in the third inning. He retired seven in a row before giving up a two-out single to Jason Varitek in the seventh that ended his night.
"It was a great game. I kept the ball down, got some outs and we won the game," Chacin said. "My location was good and my teammates came through for me."
Casey Janssen pitched one inning and Jason Frasor worked 1 1/3 innings for his first save.
- AL
FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
BOSTON 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 7 0
TORONTO 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 x 2 3 0 (FINAL)
BATTERIES: BOS - DAISUKE MATSUZAKA, HIDEKI OKAJIMA (7TH), JOEL PINEIRO (8TH)
AND JASON VARITEK
TOR - GUSTAVO CHACIN, CASEY JANSSEN (7TH), JASON FRASOR
(8TH) AND GREGG ZAUN
Apr 17 9:46 PM - AL
AT TORONTO - MID INNING UPDATE
PLAY: H Okajima relieved D Matsuzaka.
SITUATION: 0 RUNS IN, NONE ON, 0 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: BOSTON 1
TORONTO 2 BOTTOM, 7TH
DUE UP FOR TORONTO: G Zaun (.225, 0-FOR-1, RBI)
Apr 17 9:12 PM - AL
AT TORONTO - PITCHING CHANGE
BOS: HIDEKI OKAJIMA (0-0, 1.59) STARTING THE 7TH
CURRENT SCORE: BOSTON 1, TORONTO 2
DUE UP FOR TORONTO: G ZAUN (.225, 0-FOR-1, RBI)
Apr 17 9:12 PM - AL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
BOSTON 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 6 0
TORONTO 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 3 0 (BOT 7)
CURRENT PITCHERS: BOS - DAISUKE MATSUZAKA
TOR - CASEY JANSSEN
DUE UP FOR TORONTO: G ZAUN (.225, 0-FOR-1, BB, RBI)
R CLAYTON (.273, 0-FOR-2)
J SMITH (.368, 1-FOR-2)
Apr 17 9:11 PM - AL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
BOSTON 0 0 1 0 1 4 0
TORONTO 0 0 0 2 2 3 0 (TOP 5)
CURRENT PITCHERS: BOS - DAISUKE MATSUZAKA
TOR - GUSTAVO CHACIN
DUE UP FOR BOSTON: J VARITEK (.194, 0-FOR-1)
W PENA (.125, 1-FOR-1, HR, RBI)
D PEDROIA (.214, 0-FOR-1)
Apr 17 8:29 PM - AL
AT TORONTO - SCORING UPDATE
BASES LOADED WALK TO GREGG ZAUN SCORED FRANK THOMAS.
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, G ZAUN ON FIRST, A HILL ON SECOND, L OVERBAY
ON THIRD, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: BOSTON 1
TORONTO 2 BOTTOM, 4TH
DUE UP FOR TORONTO: R CLAYTON (.281, 0-FOR-1)
Red Sox vs. Blue JaysApr 17 8:25 PM - AL
AT TORONTO - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY LYLE OVERBAY SCORED VERNON WELLS.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, L OVERBAY ON FIRST, F THOMAS ON SECOND, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: BOSTON 1
TORONTO 1 BOTTOM, 4TH
DUE UP FOR TORONTO: A HILL (.362, 0-FOR-1)
Red Sox vs. Blue JaysApr 17 8:18 PM - AL
AT TORONTO - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY WILY MO PENA (1) TO CENTER WITH 0 OUT IN
THE 3RD OFF GUSTAVO CHACIN.
CURRENT SCORE: BOSTON 1, TORONTO 0
DUE UP FOR BOSTON: D PEDROIA (.222, 0 HR, 0 RBI)
Red Sox vs. Blue JaysApr 17 7:43 PM - AL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
BOSTON 0 0 0 2 0
TORONTO 0 0 0 0 (BOT 2)
CURRENT PITCHERS: BOS - DAISUKE MATSUZAKA
TOR - GUSTAVO CHACIN
DUE UP FOR TORONTO: F THOMAS (.200, 1 HR, 4 RBI)
L OVERBAY (.250, 1 HR, 6 RBI)
A HILL (.370, 2 HR, 11
Apr 17 7:31 PM
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