Dice K gets hammered -- again!

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: what is wrong with Daisuke Matsuzaka? He got hammered by 10 hits yesterday in the Red Sox 6–3 loss to the Rangers.

As the Boston Globe noted:

Yesterday he was an alternate version of the Dice-K we've come to know and, shall we say, put up with since he's become a member of the Red Sox. We are accustomed to maddeningly high pitch counts in relatively few innings. We are used to a ridiculous number of walks. And we are used to seeing teams have a very hard time putting the ball in play.

But the Dice-K on display in the Sox' 6-3 loss to the Rangers at Fenway Park was a very different creature. For only the sixth time in 74 career Bosox starts (regular season and postseason), he walked nobody. He faced 27 batters and he only had three-ball counts on four of them. This is the man who issued 103 walks in 183 2/3 regular-season and postseason innings a year ago.

What they did was hit him. The Rangers had 10 of their 12 base knocks off Dice-K, including three doubles (all authoritative), a Nelson Cruz triple off the garage door in dead center, and a Michael Young homer into the Red Sox bullpen. This is the man who led all American League pitchers last year with an opponents' batting average of .211.

I agree. Dice K has gone to hell. He (and Big Papi) need to get their acts together over June and July. I’m amazed that the Sox are only 1/2 game out or first place.