Dice-K dazzles in MLB regular season debut
Dice-K had a debut that lived up to its advance billing.
With m
illions of early rising viewers keeping track on Japanese television, Daisuke Matsuzaka struck out 10 in seven innings for the Boston Red Sox in a 4-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Thursday.
Matsuzaka (1-0) allowed six hits, including a sixth-inning homer by David DeJesus, and walked one in his first game in the major leagues.
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.
He struck out the side in the fourth on 14 pitches. Matsuzaka left the Seibu Lions to sign a $52 million, six-year contract with the Red Sox, who bid $51,111,111 for his rights.
The right-hander also proved himself a skillful fielder, pouncing off the mound three times to field weak grounders.
MLB Baseball Futures Betting, 2006 World Series Odds at Bodog Sportsbook
2007 World Series Odds: Again, this isn’t to say that any of this holds any kind of predictive value (it certainly does not), but considering how horrible the Cubs were last season, it’s shocking to see the Cubs at 8/1 odds this high up on the list.
