Dice-K Earns First Win in 2009, Beats Tigers

By KC Downey in Featured, Red Sox, Top Story ⋅ June 3, 2009 at 7:50am ⋅ Post a comment

Daisuke Matsuzaka won 18 games in 2008, but didn’t win a game during the first two months of the 2009 season. In his first June start Tuesday night against the Tigers, Dice-K earned his first win of the season, helping Terry Francona earn his 500th as a member of the Red Sox. Francona is just one of three Sox managers to reach the milestone, joining Joe Cronin (1,071) and Mike Higgins (560).

Jason Bay slugged a two-run shot as part of a nine-hit attack for the Sox, who face a tough schedule this week in the AL Central-leading Tigers and the AL West-leading Rangers. So far, so good.

Jonathan Papelbon came on with a four-run lead in the ninth, and nearly gave it all back. He loaded the bases with no outs, and then struck out the side in order to help the Sox snag a 5-1 win.

Sox Stud of the Game

Jason Bay, LF: Bay continued his strong season for the Red Sox, slugging his 16th HR of the season to bring his season RBI total to 54. He’s second in the AL in both categories.

Sox Dud of the Game

David Ortiz, DH: It’s really sad to see the demise of David Ortiz, but it continued on Tuesday. He recorded a hit, going 1-5 to raise his batting average to .186, but he also finished with three strikeouts. He has just seven multi-hit games this season in 47 overall contests. Will he ever snap out of it?

Game Notes

W: Daisuke Matsuzaka (1-3)
L: Rick Porcello (6-4)

Manny Delcarmen, Hideki Okajima, and Ramon Ramirez combined for three innings of hitless relief to bridge the gap from Dice-K to Jonathan Papelbon.
J.D. Drew, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Jason Varitek each finished with two hits.
Jacoby Ellsbury stole his 22nd base of the season.

About KC Downey

KC is the "head coach" of the Sports of Boston, LLC blog network. Follow him on Twitter: @kc_downey

Tags: Daisuke Matsuzaka, Detroit Tigers, Jason Bay, Jonathan Papelbon, Red Sox, Terry Francona

Discussion

One comment for “Dice-K Earns First Win in 2009, Beats Tigers”

[...] Jacoby Ellsbury went 3-3 with a walk and Jason Bay added another home run to get Terry Francona his 500th managerial win in the 5-1 decision. [...]

Posted by Ortiz Homers Again and Tries Stealing | Sports of Boston | June 9, 2009, 7:41 am