Red Sox Beat A's Behind Masterful Daisuke--UCONN Women Defeat Rutgers To Advance To Final Four

Daisuke Matsuzaka was completely ready to attone for his mediocre outing in his native Japan. And he did JUST that, and more! He started the game by striking out the first two batters, and except for one mistake to Cust, a home run, he sailed, he breezed, he cruised through 6 2/3 innings, giving up that solo home run while only surrendering two hits, walking none (what a change!) and striking out a convincing nine. The batting stars were Kevin Youkilis, who tied Steve Garvey's record with his 193 straight error-free games. THAT IS TRULY AMAZING! Okajima, our Darkman, followed his countryman with one full inning of scoreless relief, and then..then it was time for Paps, the REAL Paps, to shine. And shine brightly he did. He breezed through the last inning and a third, striking out three and allowing a goose egg load of hits. The Okie to Paps combination is alive and well, thank you, as long as the Sox starter can get into the 7th inning. Daisuke said this after the game...

"It's something I can only say in hindsight," Daisuke Matsuzaka said last night, "but it would have been nice to pitch better in the Tokyo Dome than I did."

And when asked if he was feeling more comfortable pitching in the States...

"I guess you could say I'm getting more and more used to it, but it's not something I really think about," he said. "A lot of it has to do with how everyone perceives me. That may be one of the results."

Daisuke, whatever it is, keep it up. We need you as our number two. Jonathon Papelbon had this to say about his overpowering 16 pitch four out save...

"From my last outing to today's outing, it was a totally different pitcher, a totally different feel, a totally different person," said Papelbon, who entered with a runner on first and two outs in the eighth and retired pinch hitter Mike Sweeney on a force play, then struck out Travis Buck, Mark Ellis, and Daric Barton in succession.
"I don't think that my outing in Japan really signified the vintage Papelbon," he said. "I feel like tonight I signified that."

So life is great in Red Sox Nation and Red Sox International, as it is for fans of the nation's number one women's basketball team. They are the Unniversity Of Connecticut Women Huskies, who came back and defeated a brave and talented Rutgers team by ten points (your team played a great game, Brittany). UCONN had to dig deep for this one. They are in the Final Four and will play Stanford, who they defeated earlier in the season. Number three Tennesee will play LSU, and the winners will meet in the championship game. Could it be a Tennessee-UCONN matchup? I can only hope. Pat Summitt, coach of Tennesse, has severed every tie with UCONN her team ever had, even going so far as to cancel their twice a year regular season games. SO WE HERE IN CONNECTICUT DO NOT LIKE HER. I could think of a couple other words, but this is a PG rated blog. UCONN has lost two important players to knee injuries, but they fight, they survive, they continue. And I am so proud of them. I really am!!!! And I have faith. Just because they will be ten times better next year does not diminish my 2008 expectations.

Hey, I hope every one of you has a wonderful Hump Day Wednesday, and please, if you have time, click on the title of this post for ALL the details of Daisuke's wonderful start. The Sox are 2-1. Anything around a .500 record on the left coast is OK with me, especially when the first two games of the four game set were in Japan. And as always, BE WELL. Forever. GO SOX.