Dice-K goes into the wind-up last night at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown, PA.Word was that Matsuzaka was on a pitch count of 75. For the first four innings of last night's game between the Pawtucket Red Sox and Lehigh Valley IronPigs a complete game shut-out seemed to be looming. It took Matsuzaka 39 pitches (31 for strikes) to dispatch the first 12 'Pigs he faced. Only in the 5th did the home team, led by an Andy Tracy single, make a small stand to string three hits together for two runs. Matsuzaka, who looked very, very good in his first (maybe only) minor league rehab stint, was finished after five. He threw 65 pitches. The PawSox won the game 9-6.
The announced attendance was 8,803, a sell-out. Despite a two-hour rain delay, most seats were filled when the game finally started at 9:15, largely because of Dice-K. Last night he was definitely worth the wait.
During the delay, the first five innings of the Red Sox-Phillies game in Philadelphia was shown on the big screen at the park. It was all Cole Hamels. Other highlights: Jimmy Rollins' lead-off homer, followed by a 2-run homer by Ryan Howard. The big guy added a solo homer in the 3rd to give the Phils a 4-0 lead. In the 5th, Dustin Pedroia and J.D. Drew had back-to-back homers, but they turned out to be the only Sox runs in an 8-2 loss. Pat Burrell tripled in the 5th but was stranded at 3rd. (Wake up, Geoff Jenkins!) Burrell's gallop round the bases convulsed Hamels in the dugout. Later, Ryan Howard added a triple of his own. (What a week for Howard, lol, a triple and a stolen base!) Sox starter Bartolo Colon's at-bats were priceless. The guys on his bench were falling all over themselves.
