Game 8: Buckner honored; Dice-K cruises to 5-0 victory

Red Sox 5
Tigers 0

I spent most of the day running from my desk to the break room TV yesterday trying to catch glimpses of the Opening Day festivities. It was a blur of Red and Blue from 1:00 to 2:00, culminating with the introduction of Bill Buckner, the "mystery first pitch thrower."

I'm well aware of the defining moment in Buckner's career, but I never had the anger towards him that many Red Sox fans held in their hearts for, too long, really. So when he walked from left field to the mound wiping tears from his eyes as the crowd gave him a well deserved standing "O," I didn't get the goosebumps that Tom Werner had promised, but it was definitely a great moment.

And Billy capped off the moment beautifully with a perfect strike to Dwight Evans.

Then it was time to play baseball.

Many, including myself, were a little concerned that the offense for the 0-6 was primed for an explosion today, but Daisuke Matsuzaka worked his fastball all game and cruised through the first 5 innings before getting out of a loaded bases jam in the 6th.

His day appeared to be done, throwing 96 pitches through 6, but in typical Dice-K fashion, he wanted more. The problem was the Red Sox sent seven batters to the plate in the bottom of the 6th, but only mustered 1 run.

We were up at bat a long time,” Matsuzaka said. “The coaches kept asking if I was OK to go back in. When I did, I felt that if I gave up a walk I’d be taken out, and that’s what happened.”

“It was a long sixth,” Francona said, “so we had him on a short leash. If there’d been any inkling that he was stiffening up, we wouldn’t have sent him back out.”

Despite giving up two big hits to the opposition in Toronto, Tito called on Manny Delcarmen for the final out in the 7th. He got Renteria to pop out and pitched a strong 8th striking out two batters. Okajima closed out the game with a pairs of Ks as well.

Daisuke was the story of the day, but it should be noted Yuke had another big day going 3-3 with a walks while driving in 2. Pedroia, Varitek and Lugo also has 2-hit games, but Ortiz continued to struggle, posting another "0-for" and stranding another 5 base runners.

The Dominican Dynamic Duo are now a combined 11-62 (.177). Papi has 7 walks mixed in but the shift has been killing his and his lack of pop makes me wonder if the knee is still not 100%. Manny however, leads the team with 11 strikeouts, and has walks just 2 times... Remy has stated that he seems to be out in front of a lot of pitches, and he definitely looks like he's swinging for the fences, rather than for contact.

The BL Hero Award goes to Daisuke for his 7 strikeouts over 6 2/3 innings. After a no-walks performance in his last outing, he walked 4 yesterday... but he's got 22 Ks and ridiculous 1.47 ERA over 18.1 innings so far.

Bottom Line: It seems like coming home has already put the Sopx back on track. They got solid pitching throughout, scored 5 runs (not 1 or 2), played solid defense and walked 6 times - a key to their run production that has been lacking as of late.

Next up: Lester vs Bonderman tonight... and The Bottom Line will be there in person!