Another solid Dice roll by Daisuke Matsuzaka - 日本職棒

Another solid Dice roll by Daisuke Matsuzaka
By Michael Silverman
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Boston Herald Sports Reporter

The be-all and end-all for the Red Sox’ chances to repeat as world champions
depends upon the quality of their pitching. So all in all,
yesterday was a good day.

就像世界大賽一樣，紅襪本質上就是靠著他們優秀的先發品質。
總的來說，昨天是美好的一天。

It began with the news that Josh Beckett’s elbow is fine.
During last night’s game, top prospect Michael Bowden was
announced as tonight’s starting pitcher. And the good news night
was completed by Daisuke Matsuzaka, who moved to 16-2 with a
sterling performance.

剛開始是北極手肘沒問題的消息；
在昨晚比賽過程中，又宣布頂級新秀Michael Bowden是今晚先發的消息；
而昨晚的好消息是松阪優質先發拿到本季16勝2敗的成績。

Matsuzaka held the White Sox to just two hits in the Red Sox’ 8-0
homestand-opening victory. Not only is Matsuzaka pitching far
above his 15-win 2007 self, he is getting better later in the season,
going 5-0 with a 2.25 ERA this month compared to 1-3, 4.45 ERA last August.

松阪昨天對上白襪，僅被打兩支安打，終場以8比0獲勝，
也讓球隊拿到回家系列戰的第一勝。不只松阪的勝場超過2007年，
而他今年的表現也越來越好，去年八月的ERA是4.45，而今年八月的ERA是2.25。

Matsuzaka’s good timing is nothing but good news for the hopes
and plans of his team.“He looked strong. It’s getting to that point
in the season where we’re heading into September and he seems
to have a lot left, which is good news,” said manager Terry Francona.
“I’m sure he could have gone out in the ninth and finished that game,
(but) I didn’t see any reason to do it.”

松阪昨晚的好投，對球隊未來規劃來說是好消息，
紅襪總教練說：「他看起來體力很好，在這個時點我們即將邁入關鍵九月，
而他看起來似乎還有充沛體力，這是很好的訊息。
今天我確定他有能力投第九局且順利完封，但是我認為沒有理由這樣做。」

The Red Sox offense took awhile to get on track, scoring just one
run through the first four innings and leading 3-0 after five.
A four-run sixth inning, however, kicked White Sox starter
Javier Vazquez out of the equation and provided Francona
with ample excuses to allow Mike Timlin to take over for the
quick 1-2-3 ninth inning to end it.

紅襪在前四局僅得一分，在五局後才以3比0領先，
然而第六局，一口氣拿到四分，讓白襪的先發下場。
大量的比數領先讓粉柯南有充分理由換下松阪，讓Mike Timlin上場，
三上三下，快速解決第九局。

Dustin Pedroia had four hits and scored three times, establishing
a new single-season record for runs scored (104) by a Red Sox
second baseman. Kevin Youkilis and Jason Bay each knocked
in three runs, and David Ortiz and Mark Kotsay added one
RBI each, Kotsay’s first in a Red Sox uniform.

Dustin Pedroia打出四支安打，跑回三分，建立了紅襪二壘手
的新紀錄—單季104分成績。Kevin Youkilis及Jason Bay各打
回三分，David Ortiz 及Mark Kotsay各有一分打點，其中
Mark Kotsay是到紅襪之後的第一分打點。

Matsuzaka walked just two batters, none in the same inning he
allowed a hit. The only batter to reach scoring position was Alexei
Ramirez, who stole second after singling to lead off the third.
Matsuzaka simply retired the next three batters in a row, something
he was able to do six other times.

紅襪保送兩位打者，但在保送之後沒有被打安打，唯一打者跑
上得分位子是Alexei Ramirez，他在打出安打之後又盜上二壘。
松阪今天連續解決三名打者共計六次。

Matsuzaka said that, after losing a tough game to the Yankees
the day before, he wanted to deliver what was needed.

松阪說，在輸掉對洋基的比賽後，他要投出球隊所需要的內容。

“I did hold the White Sox in my last start against them,
but I didn’t feel like I was really pushing or pitching against
them that forcefully, which I was able to do today and I was
happy about that,” said Matsuzaka.

松阪說：「我上次先發的確有掌握他們(白襪)，但我不認為上次內容
是強而有力的，因此今天我能夠這樣，我真的相當開心。」

Matsuzaka, who gave up seven runs in 11 combined innings
over his last two starts against the Orioles and Blue Jays,
hinted that as good and sharp as he looked last night, there
is room for improvement.

松阪在前兩場先發(對金鶯及藍鳥)共11局丟了七分，
但昨晚他表現看來很好且優秀，但他暗示仍有進步空間。

“These past two or three games, I have been pitching inconsistently,
and I think I mentioned this last time but those games were the
period where my fatigue peaked in the season,” said Matsuzaka.
“I don’t quite think I got over it today and I think I’ll take another
start to see how I feel. But what I’d like to do is learn from my
mistakes last season and be able to pitch healthy all the way to the end.”

松阪說：「過去兩三場，我投球不是很穩定，我上次有提到這件事，
不過這幾次先發的期間，算是本季最疲勞的期間，
我不認為我今天有完全恢復，下次先發時會觀察我的感覺如何。
我要從去年的錯誤學到教訓，健康的投完本季。」

Pitching healthy and strong is all the Red Sox want from any of
their pitchers, whether they answer to Matsuzaka, Beckett, Jon Lester,
Tim Wakefield or even Bowden.

健康投球是紅襪球隊對所有投手冀求的，包括對松阪、北極、
列斯特、老蝴蝶、甚至是Bowden。

What Matsuzaka showed last night is a promising start for the season’s end.

對於季末而言，昨晚松阪所展現的，是看來很有希望的先發潛力。


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