Walk-off Balk Blog: Red Sox Vs. Royals, the Matsuzaka/Greinke Show

Red Sox Vs. Royals, the Matsuzaka/Greinke Show
Dan Lewis · 5 April 07

In an attempt to get back into the swing of things here at Walk-Off Balk The Blog (as opposed to Walk-Off Balk, the useful version), I thought I’d write down some notes on today’s Red Sox/Royals game, Daisuke Matsuzaka’s inaugural Major League start.

As it turns out, Dice-K isn’t the only story in this game. The drama that is Zack Greinke’s return to the majors is greatly overshadowed by the mystical pitches and mystifying dollar amounts that is the Dice-K show. After rocketing through the minors and making an impressive Major League debut in 2005, Greinke chose to leave the team with reported psychological problems. He ended up missing a large part of the 2006 season in an effort to get the problem under control, and he has now worked his way back to The Show. It’s good to see this exciting young pitcher and his excellent changeup back where it belongs, and it’s particularly exciting that he’ll face the much-heralded Dice-K. I assume you’ve heard of him.

Kauffman Stadium is the setting, so Greinke takes center stage first. In the interest of full disclosure, Greinke is on my fantasy team, so as excited as I am about Matsuzaka, I wouldn’t mind seeing Greinke work through his demons to shut down what has been, so far this spring, a surprisingly impotent Red Sox offense. Let’s go with some bullet points:

TOP OF 1

*After getting Lugo on a deep fly ball to left, Greinke walks Youkilis with a very close 3-2 pitch. It’s a fastball at the knees, but home plate umpire Jeff Nelson must be a loyal member of the Greek God of Walks’ congregation. Ball four.

*Things are looking up for Greinke as he gets David Ortiz looking. I can’t blame Big Papi for stopping to admire the circle change, a picture perfect, tailing, dying delivery, right on the outside corner and the bottom of the kneecaps.

*Manny is Manny, however, and that means hits. Double off the right field wall, and enough to score the walrus-like Youkilis.

*Still looking very solid, Greinke gets another punchout looking. This time it’s the temporarily uninjured J.D. Drew.

BOTTOM OF 1

*Dice-K has some very impressive stuff, and though I had a look at it during the World Baseball Classic last year, it’s still a little surprising. His delivery is identical for every pitch. He’s like a pitching machine, and it’s anyone’s guess what type of pitch pops out.

*DeJesus singles to start things off. Uh oh.

*Esteban German hits into a fielder’s choice.

*Mark Teahen, who seems to have turned a corner (though I’m not sold on him yet), draws a walk, and it looks like a rocky arrival in the Occident until the always underwhelming Emil Brown grounds into a 1-6-3 twin killing, a play started with the same mechanical precision with which Dice-K seems to do everything. I’ll bet he brushes his teeth and eats a bowl of noodles with an exacting consistency that simply dazzles. Actually, if I were he I would hire Geisha to brush my teeth and feed me noodles, but I think that might be an offensive thing to say, so I take it back. That being said, I’ll bet he hires Geisha like a well-honed machine.

TOP OF 2

*Greinke is still looking good, getting Varitek, Crisp and Pedroia on a fly out, a strikeout (looking, yet again), and a ground out, respectively, all following a leadoff single by Mike Lowell.

BOTTOM OF 2

*Dice-K cruises. Alex Gordon, Ryan Shealy, and Ross Gload – fly out, line out, and a strikeout with some imperial gas on the outside corner.

TOP OF 3

*Lugo gets an infield single, off of Alex Gordon’s outstretched glove, Youkilis pops to second, and Big Papi is rung up a second time. Big Papi did not like the call, but I’m not sure why. Nice breaking ball just above the knees. Greinke is flashing some tremendous command, and I am starting to understand how he gets so many strikeouts without throwing all that hard. He pitches like a 12-year veteran. Manny gets a harmless infield single before Greinke gets J.D. Drew on a swinging bunt, 1-3.

BOTTOM OF 3

*I’ve addressed this already, but let me just say that Dice-K has some ridiculous stuff. He has that type of breaking ball that is so dynamic that he loses control of it fairly regularly, and it goes in the dirt after a violent mid-air snap, as though by ricochet. It reminds me a bit of Tom Gordon’s breaking ball, and yeah, I recognize that this is very high praise. Combine that pitch with mid-to-upper 90’s heat that goes wherever he wants it to go, a wicked change, and an apocryphal gyro ball, and you have one amazing pitcher. I’ll be very surprised if he doesn’t win 17 games this season.

*Aflac Trivia: Who are the only three players to win the A.L. RBI title in three consecutive seasons? I’ll go with David Ortiz, Hank Greenberg, and Babe Ruth.

*Dice-K continues to cruise.

TOP OF 4th

*Lowell doubles, Varitek flies out, Crisp grounds out, and Pedroia strikes out, the first Red Sox player of the game to swing at a third strike. Might as well, right? It’s like taking a stab if you don’t know the Final Jeopardy question. You might as well write something down.

BOTTOM OF 4th

*Trivia answer: Ty Cobb (1907-1909), Babe Ruth (1919-1921), and Cecil Fielder (1990-1992). How did I miss two Tigers but get the other one? Shameful. I would have thought that Fielder only did it twice consecutively, and I pretty much just spaced on Cobb. Quick digression – Cobb is generally not thought of as an RBI guy, but he was a power hitter batting in the middle of a very good lineup in Detroit. Power or no power, you’re going to knock in a few runs with batting averages of .350, .324, and .377, right in the middle of the dead ball era. You should go look at the guy’s stats once in a while, and keep in mind that the average team scored about 550 runs per season in his early years. He makes Ichiro, Tony Gwynn, and Rod Carew look like Brad Ausmuses.

*Oh, back to the game. Matsuzaka is dealing. Strikes out the side on all sorts of nasty business, high fastballs at 95 mph, and sharp, angular breaking s14 pitches, and German, Teahen, and Brown are the victims. Emil’s swinging third strike was at his Adam’s apple, which may say more about Emil Brown than it does about Dice-K. Still, there was some major league mustard on that one.

TOP OF 5

*Right field corner double by Lugo, who stole third and scored on a throwing error to Buck, who seemed like he was trying to throw a touchdown pass to Ross Gload out in left field. It’s been a very well pitched game, but the fact is that the Royals are not a good team, making my fantasy baseball selection of Zack Greinke somewhat questionable. He has huge upside, and the Royals offense should be somewhat improved, so I stand by my choice for now. Hot fantasy tip: Find bargains by scouting players battling mental illness. I picked up Greinke for $0. That’s right, zero.

*Youkilis grounds out to 3rd, Manny flies out to right and, in between, Greinke punches out David Ortiz, handing Big Papi a hat trick in just the 5th inning. This means Papi has a shot at the coveted platinum sombrero. Unfortunately, Greinke probably won’t be pitching if Ortiz comes to the plate wearing the gold.

BOTTOM OF 5

*It’s the first lazy pronunciation of “Matsuzaka” of the year, as one of the Royals TV announcers just throws in the towel and calls him “Dice-K Matsui”. If only Harry Caray had lived to wrestle with such a moniker. Caray wasn’t always in the mood to wrestle, so he might have also given up and gone with something like “Hector Villanueva”.

*Alex Gordon picks up the first of what promises to be many hits in Major League baseball. Off the handle, single to center, and Gordon will be able to tell his grandkids that he made his first Major League hit off of the Daisuke Matsuzaka, a man from a once-great nation that eventually sank into the ocean when the world melted, and is now comprised solely of Mt. Fuji.

*Shealy strikes out looking on a breaking ball with nonsensical movement. Sheesh! After Gload lines out to right, John Buck, not to be confused with Joe Buck (this one or this one) pokes a single into center field, and Dice-K is in trouble for the first time this afternoon, but only until he gets Tony Pena to hit an easy nubber for out number three.

TOP OF 6

*Greinke surrenders a leadoff double to the awesome-when-healthy-and-so-far-healthy J.D. Drew, who decides not to advance when Lowell flies out to medium-deep center. Kind of surprising, given that the Red Sox have a small lead.

*Greinke makes quick work of the Sox with an 11-pitch inning.

BOTTOM OF 6

*As DeJesus steps to the plate to lead off the inning, the announcer gives it the old college try and shows some improvement, saying “Mats-ah-uh-sazaka”. If he keeps practicing he should have it down pat by the time the Royals visit Fenway Park in July.

*The malapropism seems to jinx Dice-K, as he leaves one up in the zone and surrenders a homer to DeJesus, followed by a bloop single by German.

*With a 2-2 count on Mark Teahen, whom the announcers remind us has 5 strikeouts already this season, German is running. Dice-K freezes Teahen with a wicked changeup, and German, who got an awful jump, gets thrown out at second on a very questionable call. How does Teahen not swing at that pitch? I can understand that he might have been fooled, but it did get a good chunk of the plate, and he has to try to get the bat on that ball. It cost the Royals dearly, as Emil Brown lines a double into the gap on the very next pitch. Ouch. The Royals fans are surly, handing out a hearty round of boos to some combination of Teahen, German, 2nd base umpire Tim Tschida, and the lord above. Dice-K dispatches Gordon on a perfect fastball on the outside corner, something Gordon might want to omit from that discussion with his grandkids. It is Matsuzaka’s 8th strikeout.

TOP OF 7

*Pedroia gets a base hit and becomes the 6th consecutive leadoff hitter to reach base for the Red Sox. Greinke works the same magic here that he worked in the 6th, this time getting a double play grounder from Lugo and a quick fly out from Youkilis. He has thrown 18 pitches in the last two innings. With 7 strikeouts in as many innings and only one earned run surrendered, Greinke is hanging tough against Matsuzaka and a great Red Sox lineup.

BOTTOM OF 7

*But Greinke’s going to have to keep it up because Matsuzaka is really turning it on. Like a teppanyaki chef putting his skills on display, he carves up Shealy and Gload before getting a weak fly ball to center from Buck. Dice-K has been magnificent, ringing up 10 batters so far. I know it’s the Royals and all, but yikes. I imagine that Fenway is going to be electric when he pitches, perhaps reminiscent of the way it was when the greatest pitcher ever took the mound for home games. This is guaranteed to be on ESPN as soon as they can manage it.

TOP OF 8

*Joel Peralta is on, and Greinke is out of the game. Here is his final line:

7 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K

Nice work, but he’s on the hook for the loss. You have to tip your hat to Matsuzaka. If you do not have a hat, a polite bow will do nicely.

*Big Papi spoils the golden sombrero bid by dropping a hit into the left field corner, a double with no fielder in sight due to the shift defense. It’s time for Ortiz to flash the wheels, and he does so in advancing to third on a Manny fly to center and then scoring on a wild pitch that wound up a mere 20 feet from the plate. While I applaud the effort, I wouldn’t want my big, lumbering run producer dashing around and sliding in for close plays at the plate, and I’m sure Francona and the rest of the Sox faithful wince every time he comes barreling toward the catcher. The Sox are already winning the game, and Mike Lowell is a perfectly capable hitter with a man on third and one out. No harm done, as the speedy Ortiz slides in safely.

*Lowell puts one right through Alex Gordon’s wickets, reaching first and sending Drew to third on the error. There’s going to be very little story in Granddad’s story, as it turns out. If the kids ask to hear more about this game it might be less embarrassing for Gordon to pretend to have bladder control issues and excuse himself so that he can hide in the bathroom.

*After a quick strikeout of the visibly out of sync Varitek, Crisp lines a single to score Drew, and the Red Sox are off and running with a 4-1 lead. Pedroia follows with another single, loading the bases for Julio Lugo, who puts the inning out of its misery with a weak ground ball. Mr. Greinke, get used to this particular brand of disappointment.

BOTTOM OF 8

*J.C. Romero is on, so here’s the final line for Matsuzaka:

7 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 10 K

A line very similar to Greinke’s, with a few more strikeouts and one fewer unearned run. This has been a marvelously pitched game, with Dice-K slightly outpitching Greinke and the Royals out sloppy-ing the Red Sox overall.

*Couple of weak outs right away, a very weak bunt attempt by Pena and a grounder back to Romero off the bat of DeJesus. German mixes it up with a single before Teahen’s weak grounder to second base. Maybe the Royals will make more of a go of it against Papelbon in the 9th.

Well, maybe not.

*TOP OF 9th

*The aptly named David Riske is in to pitch for the Royals, and after Youkilis strikes out looking on a ball at least 3 inches outside, interest in the game is temporarily resuscitated. The Red Sox sent enough men to the plate in the 8th to get Ortiz one more shot at the golden sombrero, and Ortiz comes through, watching strike three on the outside corner. I’m sure Big Papi will have better games on his way to another 45 or 50 home runs.

*Manny grounds out, and it’s officially yet another slow start for him. He always does this before going on a massive tear when the weather warms up. I can’t understand why any Red Sox fan complains about this guy. He’s one of the three or four best hitters of his generation, and he puts up monster numbers every year. Who gives a damn if he falls over in left field or disappears into the Green Monster every once in a while? If they would like to trade him in for Craig Monroe’s more dependable glove, that would be fine by me. Until then, no more complaining.

BOTTOM OF 9

*Ho hum. Papelbon is his usual dominant self, making Brown, Gordon, and Shealy look like those Little League World Series kids who had to face Danny Almonte.

Nice game. I’m watching ESPN’s Baseball Tonight as I write this, and they just blew 25% of their show talking about Dice-K without mentioning Greinke’s effort once. The guy battles back from mental illness, shuts down the Red Sox offense, striking out seven, and he gets nary a blurb. He pitched brilliantly today, and he’s on my fantasy team, so I think it bears mentioning, don’t you?

Has Baseball Tonight completely gone to shit? Yes, but that’s a topic for another day.

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Red Sox Vs. Royals, the Matsuzaka/Greinke ShowDan Lewis · 5 April 07

Red Sox Vs. Royals, the Matsuzaka/Greinke Show
Dan Lewis · 5 April 07