Twins vs. Red Sox Preview
BOSTON, MA (AP) – Daisuke Matsuzaka’s inconsistency is nothing new to the Boston Red Sox, who have grown accustomed to their starter’s feast-or-famine performances.
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They’re also used to the health of his right arm being in question.
Matsuzaka left his latest start with elbow tightness and struggled in an emergency relief appearance earlier this week, but he’s proclaimed himself healthy enough to take the hill Sunday afternoon against the visiting Minnesota Twins.
According to MLB odds and oddsmakers from online sports book SBGGLOBAL.com have made the Red Sox -177 money line favorites for Sunday’s game against the Twins. Current MLB Public Betting Information shows that 71% of more than 51 bets for this game have been placed on the Twins +167.
Matsuzaka (2-3, 4.33 ERA) has typically been hit-or-miss in his five years with the Red Sox (15-18), and that’s never been as true as in his first month of the 2011 season.
He gave up seven runs in two innings to Tampa Bay on April 11, then surrendered only two hits over 15 innings in his next two outings.
Matsuzaka exited four innings into his April 29 start against Seattle with right elbow tightness, though, leaving plenty of cause for concern considering he’s served four stints on the disabled list since 2008 because of right arm issues.
Boston pushed his next start back from Wednesday to Friday, but that was further delayed when manager Terry Francona needed to use him Wednesday in relief. Matsuzaka came on in the 13th inning of the Red Sox’s rain-delayed game against the Los Angeles Angels – his first major league relief appearance – and he gave up the decisive runs in a 5-3 loss.
“It took a lot of guts on his part,” reliever Daniel Bard said.
Despite those struggles – Matsuzaka said it was “difficult to get ready” as a reliever – he claims the elbow is feeling good enough to take the mound against the Twins (12-19).
“It is getting better, gradually getting better,” Matsuzaka told the team’s official website through his interpreter.
Matsuzaka is 2-1 with a 2.30 ERA in four starts versus Minnesota, including 1-0 with a 1.17 ERA in a pair of outings at Fenway Park.
Justin Morneau and Jason Kubel, however, are a combined 11 for 22 against him.
None of the Twins could get anything going Saturday, in a game that was delayed 2 hours, 7 minutes by rain. Clay Buchholz and four relievers combined to hold Minnesota to three singles in a 4-0 win.
Buchholz pitched three innings before the delay and two after, doing his part to save a bullpen that had thrown 18 1-3 innings in the past three days.
“Just trying to help out,” Buchholz said. “I knew the guys had a rough couple of days.”
The Twins will send Carl Pavano (2-3, 5.84) to the hill as they look to win for the fourth time in five games, but the veteran right-hander needs to be much better than he was last Sunday at Kansas City. Pavano gave up 12 hits and seven runs over 5 1-3 innings in a 10-3 loss, the third time he’s surrendered at least seven runs in a road start this season.
This one prompted him to take a bat to a trashcan in the dugout.
“That’s as frustrated as I can get,” Pavano said. “It actually felt pretty good. I just kept whaling away with it. The (bat) wouldn’t break. I couldn’t break a bat in the dugout and I couldn’t break any out there (on the mound). It was embarrassing.”
Pavano is 1-2 with an 11.70 ERA in three career starts at Fenway, though he won his lone appearance since 2004.
Carl Crawford, who’s batting .407 in May, is 11 for 28 against Pavano, while David Ortiz is 5 for 9 with a homer.
Jacoby Ellsbury, who has a 16-game hitting streak, has never faced Pavano.
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