Tale of two Dice-Ks

MANCHESTER — As Daisuke Matsuzaka took the mound for his rehab start Sunday afternoon for the Portland Sea Dogs, he was greeted on his walk to the hill by a loud ovation from the New Hampshire Fisher Cats fans at Merchants Auto Stadium.

It would be the only warm reception Matsuzaka would have on the day.

Matsuzaka gave up five runs on four hits in two innings of work, collecting the loss in New Hampshire’s 5-3 win.

It was Matsuzaka’s first start since being placed on the 15-day disabled list by the Boston Red Sox on June 21 with a mild shoulder strain. He was placed on the 60-day disabled list July 31.

Matsuzaka struggled in his first inning of work and had trouble with his control before the game even began. In a sign of things to come, Matsuzaka tossed one of his warm up pitches over the head of catcher Juan Apodaca and into the protective netting behind home plate.

New Hampshire leftfielder Todd Donovan lead off the game with a towering solo home run over the leftfield wall to give the Fishercats a 1-0 lead.

After a walk to Scott Campbell and a single to Brad Emaus, New Hampshire first baseman David Cooper smacked a Matsuzaka pitch down the left field line for a double, scoring Campbell. Two batters later, Fisher Cats catcher Brian Jeroloman hit a double, scoring both Emaus and Cooper.

Another two batters later, third baseman Bryan Kervin hit a sacrifice fly to score Nick Gorneault, who had reached base earlier on a walk. Kervin just beat out the relay throw home by avoiding the diving tag by Apodaca. After batting around the order, Donovan hit into a fielder’s choice to finally stop the bleeding for the Sea Dogs, who were down, 5-0.

Throughout the inning, Matsuzaka had trouble finding the strike zone, as he walked two batters, and loaded up on his pitch count, throwing 49 pitches in the first inning alone. He also lacked velocity on his fastball, as he routinely reached speeds between 88 to 89 miles-per-hour.

After his start, Matsuzaka said through his interpreter that he did not put full effort into his work in the first inning.

“In the first inning I think I got into the game at sort of or about 60 or 70 percent max output for me,” he said. “There were a few things I wanted to work on and that is why I wanted to get into the game gradually. Mind you, I didn’t think I would get hit up quite that badly.”

One aspect of Matsuzaka’s pitching of which he worked on yesterday was a more deliberate leg kick in his wind up, which he said he is working on to use more of his lower body to prevent him from diving too far forward on his follow through.

Matsuzaka said the leg kick was used more as a practice tool.

“I think that the leg kick I was using certainly was something I would not use in a real game and it was really an extension of some things I was working on in practice as well,” he said.

Even after the rough first inning, Matsuzaka gave polar opposite results in his second inning of work, inducing pop-outs to both Campbell and Cooper while also striking out Emaus to shut down the Fishercats for a one-two-three inning.

Matsuzaka said he was told that he only had 10 pitches left on his pitch count in the second inning.

“At the end of the first they told me that I was done so that was almost the end for me, but I told them I wanted to get my work in and they gave me 10 pitches. Lucky for me I only needed nine.”

Matsuzaka said he pitched with “pretty much 100 percent” effort in the second inning. His final line for the day was: two innings pitched, four hits, five earned runs, three walks, two strikeouts on 58 pitches for an earned run average of 22.50.

Matsuzaka said he felt good physically after his outing.

“Physically I have no problems,” he said. “Within the game there were some adjustments I probably needed to make to my delivery but nothing that I am too worked up about.”

Matsuzaka is scheduled for another rehab start Aug. 4 for Triple-A Pawtucket when they play at home against Syracuse. He said he is unsure of when he will be called back up to Boston.

“In the end it is the manager and the coaching staff’s decision, they are going to decide when it is that I am going to come back,” he said. “My next rehab start is supposed to be my last one so I hope that I can pitch in a way that gives them confidence.”

Notes”¦Matsuzaka took time before the game to sign autographs for the crowd in Manchester, a practice he said he usually doesn’t practice on a day he starts.

“It is a rare chance that I get to play at this place and I know that a lot of people came out to watch me pitch, and I just wanted to do my best for them,” he said.

The Sea Dogs scored their runs on a base hit by designated hitter Jon Still in the first inning that scored Daniel Nava, who singled two batters earlier. Apodaca added a two-run homer in the top of the fourth inning to finish Portland’s scoring on the day.

Portland lost the second game of the double-header, 4-2, with Felix Doubrant taking the loss for the Sea Dogs. Doubrant pitched five innings, giving up five hits and all four runs while striking out three. The Sea Dogs runs came off a double by second baseman Ryan Khoury in the top of the sixth inning, plating Iggy Suarez and Jason Place.

The Sea Dogs finish their road trip tomorrow against the Fisher Cats before coming home for their final seven games of the season against Trenton and, once again, New Hampshire.