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Tuesday March 27, 12:43 PMBaseball: Matsuzaka makes wild spring training outing for Boston(Kyodo) _ Daisuke Matsuzaka showed his wild side in his second-to-last start in spring training, walking five and striking out six over five hitless innings against the Cincinnati Reds on Monday.Matsuzaka set the tone for his day when he walked Ryan Freel leading off the bottom of the first inning and threw a wild pitch one out later. His control problem continued and got him in and out of jams throughout his outing that ended with 104 pitches. In an apparent show of frustration at his performance, the right-hander did not show up at a post-game press conference. "The quality of my pitches was too bad," Matsuzaka said through a spokesman. "I threw a lot of walks and bad pitches and I think that helped lose the rhythm for both our defense and offense." Matsuzaka had a no-decision in the Reds' 5-0 win, leaving his spring record at 2-1 with a 1.83 earned run average, including a start against Boston College. Fellow Japanese pitcher Hideki Okajima did not play. At Tampa, New York Yankees newcomer Kei Igawa allowed a run and three hits in five innings against the Philadelphia Phillies in a showing that appeared to boost his confidence further a week before the opening of the regular season. Igawa (2-0) also struck out four, walked two and threw a wild pitch while lowering his spring ERA to 2.65 in five games. "Honing my changeup has been the main goal for me in this spring training," Igawa said. "It's good that I had an opportunity to throw a lot of changeups today and I figured out when and how they were effective." Igawa is scheduled to pitch against the Detroit Tigers on Saturday in his final spring training start, meaning that he is out of the picture for the Yankees' opening-day game on April 2. Yankees outfielder Hideki Matsui batted sixth and went 0-for-3. In other action, Pittsburgh Pirates non-roster invitee Masumi Kuwata, pitched 1-2/3 scoreless innings giving up a hit and striking out one before leaving the game against Toronto Blue Jays with a sprained right ankle that will likely force him out of the opening-day roster. Chicago White Sox second baseman Tadahito Iguchi came within a double of hitting for the cycle on a 3-for-5 day against the San Francisco Giants. Iguchi hit an RBI triple, a single and a solo homer, raising his average to .450 in his last five games. Ichiro Suzuki delivered an RBI single in going 1-for-3 for the Seattle Mariners against the Texas Rangers. Seattle catcher Kenji Jojima was 0-for-2 and was hit by a pitch while Texas right-hander Akinori Otsuka struck out two in one inning of perfect relief. Tampa Bay Devil Rays rookie Akinori Iwamura went 1-for-3 against the Cleveland Indians, while So Taguchi of the St. Louis Cardinals was held hitless in one at-bat with a walk against the Florida Marlins. Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Takashi Saito was charged with a run in two-thirds of an inning against the New York Mets. |
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