Dice-K Nearly No-Hits Phillies

Daisuke Matsuzaka was four outs away from tossing a no-hitter against the Phillies.  Juan Castro broke up the no-hit bid with a bloop single over the head of Marco Scutaro.  For the Phillies, it was appropriate that the only hit came on a blooper since the Phillies hit the the ball hard most of the night.

Dice-K didn’t exactly dominate.  He had a high pitch count, walked four, and struck out five.  Yes — the Phillies weren’t able to collect hits off him, but they did scorch the ball.  The Red Sox made several incredible defensive plays.  Dustin Pedroia made a leaping catch to rob Chase Utley.  Jayson Werth lined a shot right back at Matsuzaka, who made an insane catch.  Adrian Beltre dove to take a hit away from Carlos Ruiz, and turned it into a double play.  Overall, the Phillies were hitting the ball hard, just right at fielders.

While Dice-K was literally unhittable, Kyle Kendrick was the complete opposite.  He surrendered five runs, all earned.  Kendrick cruised through the first couple of innings, but hit a rock in the fifth.  The Red Sox already led 1-0 at the time, thanks to a sacrifice fly in which Raul Ibanez failed to nail David Ortiz at the plate.  Kendrick was one out away from keeping it a one-run game, however J.D Drew, Ortiz, and Beltre each knocked in runs.

The Red Sox took a 5-0 lead, and did not look back.  Matsuzaka got a lot of luck on Saturday, and perhaps things will come easier tomorrow for the Phillies with Roy Halladay on the mound.