Rangers Batter Dice-K, Win Series

By KC Downey in Featured, Red Sox, Top Story ⋅ June 7, 2009 at 4:57pm ⋅ Post a comment

The usually wild Daisuke Matsuzaka finally had his pitches at or near the strike zone, but the Rangers jumped all over him for 10 hits and five runs in 5.2 IP to beat the Sox 6-3 and win the series. Dice-K allowed no walks and finished with eight strikeouts, but took the loss as his ERA ballooned to 7.33 on the year.

The Red Sox offense was shut down, as they only banged out four hits and three runs. They walked five times, but did nothing with runners in scoring position (0-4). The Sox can’t blame David Ortiz, who went 1-4 with a single through the shift.

Sox Stud of the Game

Mark Kotsay, RF-CF: Kotsay had his first two hits of the season, including his first career HR with the Red Sox. He moved over from right field to center field after Ellsbury was forced to leave the game.

Sox Dud of the Game

Mike Lowell, 3B: Lowell did nothing offensively, going 0-4 with a strikeout. What’s worse is that in those four at bats, he saw only nine total pitches, which will do nothing to wear hitters out.

Game Notes

W: Vincente Padilla (4-3)
L: Daisuke Matsuzaka (1-4)
S: C.J. WIlson (5)

Jacoby Ellsbury had a terrific catch in center field diving into the warning track, but later left a game after suffering a right shoulder strain on the play.
Former Sox OF David Murphy (who was traded with Kason Gabbard for Eric Gagne in 2007) went 3-4 against his former team.
Nelson Cruz slammed his 17th HR of the season off Hideki Okajima in the seventh inning.