Red Sox 2
Oakland 1

As millions cursed the left coast for its stubborn insistence to be “different,” Daisuke Matsuzaka played Dr. Jekyll while Mr. Hyde reared his ugly head for only a few moments. Bad Daisuke popped up at every pitch, threatening to take over and start sailing fastballs to the backstop, but he held his doppleganger in check. After surrendering a home run to Jack Cust he went to a 3-0 count on Emil Brown with fastballs in the dirt, but Brown rolled the 3-1 over to short as a collective sigh of relief washed over the eastern seaboard. The pitch to Cust was a belt high fastball on the outside corner: good hitting by The Legend. The biggest thing to take away from this game is Daisuke’s ability to adapt to his stuff. He had the fastball command, so he went to it often.

There was a major difference in his delivery that merits some continued attention. On fastballs, he followed with his right leg high and his balance shifted to the left. In fact, his balance was inconsistent the entire game. On certain off-speed stuff he was hopping after his leg came through, on others he had his normal finish on the right. Presently this won’t tip his off-speed stuff because it happens after the ball crosses the plate. With repitition, batters may notice a slight change in his balance during the delivery. The first shot below is from a strikeout of Travis Buck in Japan last week, the second last night. Look at the right leg and angle of his torso.

Maybe its nothing, but an adjustment like that after one start is telling. If it’s a conscious change his performance in Japan was worse than we thought, or last night’s not as good. Nine punch-outs and a lead to the bullpen are tough to second guess, but that’s what we do.

All Francona needs to keep this team afloat is 7+ innings from a starter. Last night, he managed to not mess up the pen usage with Okajima and Papelbon for 1+ IP. If Kyle Snyder had been anywhere near that bullpen mound it would have been cause for immediate tar and feathering. A pinch runner for Varitek on second in the top of the ninth would have been ideal, but was ultimately not a factor.

Bullpen thoughts:

• One can’t argue with Papelbon’s performance, but again he left too many fastballs up and in the middle of the plate. The country hardball routine may work against the Athletics, but it won’t fly against the Indians and Yankees.
• If anyone is upset to see Keith Foulke succeeding in another uni, please refer to his fastball, currently is sitting at a robust 82mph. The end is nigh for this charade.
• Timlin is tentatively scheduled to appear in Pawtucket April 7th and 9th, then join the team for the Yankees series beginning the 11th. He is recovering from a laceration on his finger.

Game 4: Wednesday at 3:35pm ET
Jon Lester at Rich Harden

One porcelain princess went down yesterday, can the Red Sox make it two?