:rofl:
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- After striking out three times, Ryan Shealy sounded amazed.
"I didn't know he threw that hard," he said.
Dice-K was more than OK in his major league debut.
With millions of early rising viewers keeping track on Japanese television,
Daisuke Matsuzaka struck out 10 in seven innings in his major league debut Thursday to lead the Boston Red Sox over the Kansas City Royals 4-1.
"I can't say that my overall condition was that great today, but I think the role of a starting pitcher is to set up the game and give my teammates the opportunity to win," he said through an interpreter. "I feel like I was able to do that today, so I was satisfied."
On a cold, blustery afternoon, Matsuzaka (1-0) allowed six hits, including a sixth-inning homer by David DeJesus, and walked one. He looked every bit the ace Boston committed $103 million to.
"Any time you have that good of a fastball and the offspeed to go with it, it's tough," Shealy said. "He mixes up speed on his pitches and moves it in and out. You can't really get comfortable with him."
His fastball clocked at 95 mph and his famed array of fastballs, changeups and breaking pitches at times was dazzling. Flashing a reddish-orange glove during his slow-motion windup, he retired 10 batters in a row during one stretch starting with the final out of the first inning. He struck out the side in the fourth on 14 pitches.
Red Sox executives have business cards printed in English on one side and Japanese on the other. Restaurants in the Fenway Park area are beginning to offer Japanese dishes and more than 100 Japanese media have been chronicling his every step. About 200 media were on hand to chronicle his every move.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=270405107NEW YORK (AP) -- Alex Rodriguez had a great opportunity to turn Yankees fans in his favor.
Once again, he flopped.
Rodriguez popped out against rookie reliever Brian Stokes with the bases loaded to end the eighth inning, and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays spoiled Andy Pettitte's return to New York with a 7-6 victory Thursday night.
"It was frustrating. He gave me a good pitch to hit and I didn't do much with it," Rodriguez said. "A fat pitch. It was right there."
Elijah Dukes hit his second homer in two major league games and Tampa Bay took advantage of some shoddy defense by the Yankees on a snowy night in the Bronx. The Devil Rays went ahead in the eighth inning on a wild pitch and held on for only their fourth road victory since July 1.
"The road was a big part of our bane last year. To do that here, I was really pleased -- and I think it may carry over," manager Joe Maddon said. "You remember how many times last year we didn't finish it off. Tonight, we finished it off."
On a windy, 38-degree night with light snow flurries occasionally blowing around, the Yankees had three errors, three wild pitches and a passed ball.
They've made six errors in two games -- three by Gold Glove shortstop Derek Jeter."We played sloppy. We've got to tighten it up a little bit," Jeter said. "You're not going to win too many games like that."
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=270405110
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