G82: Red Sox 4, Devil Rays 1

He'll never grab my heart the way Pedro did, but I'm really starting to enjoying watching Dice pitch.

          IP  H ER BB  K  PIT-ST  SOX
0605 @OAK  7  7  2  2  8  130-78  L 0-2
0610 @ARI  6  4  2  4  9  120-78  L 1-5
0616  SF   7  3  0  3  8  112-66  W 1-0
0622 @SD   6  5  1  5  9  126-81  W 2-1
0627 @SEA  8  3  1  1  8  113-77  L 1-2
0703  TB   8  4  0  1  9  122-84  W 4-1
          42 26  6 16 51      ERA: 1.29

I was thinking we might have to wait until next season to see him settle in and really start toying with hitters, but we're seeing it right now. With those six starts, he's lowered his ERA from 4.83 to 3.53. (Walks can still a bit of a problem though.)

Julio Lugo singled twice, the first coming in the second inning (snapping his 0-for-33 slump) and driving in Boston's 2nd and 3rd runs of the game. Lugo also singled in the seventh (and was picked off first base).

Kazmir walked three consecutive batters to start the second -- all three scored.

***

Scott Kazmir (4.26, 105 ERA+) / Daisuke Matsuzaka (3.80, 117 ERA+)

The Red Sox are officially in the second half of the 2007 season and are now playing their first game against a team in their own division. How can this be?

The good news is that 18 of Boston's remaining 81 games -- 22%! -- are against the lowly Devil Rays.

In five June starts, Matsuzaka's ERA was 1.59 ERA.

Exactly one year ago tonight, Kazmir pitched his first complete-game shutout, two-hitting the Red Sox in Tampa. Since then, he is 0-4 with 10 no-decisions at home. ... In his last start, Kazmir threw 113 pitches in 5.1 innings.