Times wires
Monday, April 18, 2011
BOSTON — Daisuke Matsuzaka wanted to impress his old pitching coach.
Did he ever.
Matsuzaka pitched seven one-hit innings after one of the worst outings of his career, and the Red Sox got an early start on their third straight win, beating the Blue Jays and new manager John Farrell 9-1 on Monday in Boston's traditional morning Patriots Day game.
"Farrell is on the other side so I wanted to show solid pitching in front of him," Matsuzaka said through a translator.
For the past four years Farrell tried to get Matsuzaka to attack hitters and cut down his pitch count. Monday, the right-hander threw 89 pitches against the free-swinging Blue Jays.
"He threw a very good game," Farrell said. "He's had a lot of success against Toronto in the past and he's used his fastball effectively. He did that (Monday) and we weren't able to put good swings on it."
Matsuzaka also impressed his own manager, Terry Francona, after entering with a 12.86 ERA in two starts.