Well, Daisuke Matzusaka looked pretty good in his first Fenway start giving up 8 hits and 3 earned runs thru 7 innings, but Felix Hernandez stole the show. Hernandez uncorked a complete game one-hit shutout, basically what we were all hoping Dice-K would do. Boston ground out 17 times against Hernandez, due in part to stellar defense by Jose Lopez and My Favorite Mariner Yuniesky Betancourt.
This is great for Dice-K, in a way. He certainly didn't have a bad game-3 earned runs will win a lot of games for a Red Sox team that averaged over 5 runs per game last year. And, with a loss in the home opener, there will be a lot less pressure on him than if he was working some kind of home unbeaten streak. That's not just a blatant homer's rationalization of the kind of disappointing loss that can only come from a whole offseason of hype, right?
Matsuzaka doesn't have much to worry about from Red Sox Nation, however, since he hit confirmed rabblerouser and possible tomfooler Jose Guillen with a pitch. If we're lucky, tomorrow's game will feature a Donnelly-Guillen rematch. I learned from a guy named Robert Goulet that impossible dreams can come true. Let's not make him a liar.
Jarrod Washburn takes the hill for Seattle tomorrow; I'm guessing he won't be hitting any Sox batters on Jose Guillen's behalf. Key matchup here is with Coco Crisp, who is 11-21 against Washburn with 1 homer and 4 RBI's.
Sadly for feud fans, Wakefield is throwing for the Sox. His radar gun-limit-testing fastball won't do the kind of permanent damage to Guillen's ribs that Boston fans are hoping for. Watch for Richie Sexson to whiff a couple times, and watch out for Willie Bloomquist. He's 4-4 against Wake lifetime with a pair of doubles.
Flip side, bitches.
