MVN: Most Valuable Network

Daisuke Matsuzaka and Jon Lester, two important components to the future of the Red Sox starting rotation, both took the mound today with divergent outcomes.

First, the one with all the attention: Dice-K pitched 5.2 innings, gave up one run on one hit, one walk, and whiffed seven batters. He threw 92 pitches, 61 for strikes and retired 15 of the last 16 batters. The fact that he's already up at 92 pitches two weeks before his major league debut to me is a positive thing because it shows he's ready to pitch, and he's ready to pitch deep into games.

It will be interesting to hear Matsuzaka's thoughts post game. What efficiency percentage level was he at? How did he feel? Did he approach it like a real game?

Over at Pittsburgh's Lumber Co., Cory Humes liveblogged the game between Dice-K and the Pirates. He started off skeptical, saying "the kid keeps the ball down, throws strikes—but is he worth $100 million?" By the end, Humes sounds sold: "Matsuzaka looks tough. He struck out LaRoche, setting down his ninth in a row."

I asked Humes about Matsuzaka's stuff. He saw Dice-K hit 94 mph with his fastball, but settled down around 91-92. It sounds to me that Matsuzaka's probably not at 100 percent efficiency yet, then, because he's supposed to be hitting 93-95 with regularity.

The game is currently in the seventh inning, with the Red Sox up 4-2. Dustin Pedroia walked, Manny Ramirez blooped in Pedroia, and then came around on a J.D. Drew double to open the scoring. The Pirates answered by getting CF Chris Duffy on board via a hit by pitch, and then Adam LaRoche lined a pitch past J.D. Drew to score Duffy. In the fifth, Pedroia walked again against starting pitcher Tom Gorzelanny. Manny walked on a pitch from reliever Dan Kolb, and J.D. Drew singled both of them in.

Manny Delcarmen replaced Matsuzaka and promptly ran the count full against Pirates starting catcher Ronny Paulino, who then homered.

Jon Lester took the hill against a minor league team, pitching against the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins, who are based out of Rochester.

Lester did not finish the second or third inning because of pitch count restrictions (you can sub in and out with impunity in a minor league game). He ended up throwing 42 pitches, giving up six hits, three runs, one walk, and one strikeout.

UPDATE: Kyle Snyder came in to replace Delcarmen after 1.1 innings and has given up one run through one inning so far (the eighth). On the offensive side, reliever Jim Brower coughed up three runs on three hits in the top seventh to push the score to 7-3, Boston.