Matsuzaka's Soreness Is News To Francona And Farrell

Daisuke Matsuzaka said he had "lower-body soreness" on Thursday during his dismal outing against the Royals.

Mechanically, my lower body wasn't cooperating with me ... [and] I had to rely too much on my upper body ... The velocity was there, but there was no movement or bite to my pitches, not to mention any command.

The soreness was news to both John Farrell ("That's the first that we had heard about it") and Terry Francona ("That was the first I'd heard of that). What happened to the Matsuzaka who vowed to keep the team informed of any soreness, injuries, body issues?

Tim Wakefield could not hold early 3-0 and 5-2 leads and was "disgusted" with his performance. So it's unanimous. The nine runs was the most Wake has allowed in a game as a member of the Red Sox.

Josh Beckett threw about 25 pitches in a side session. Francona:

If there's any hesitancy, we're going to be cautious with him. I think we need to be. ... We're going to keep a close eye on it. ... It depends on how he feels. If we force this, it's going to be wrong.

One SoSHer noted the difference in how Francona talked about Beckett's recovery and how he has discussed Ellsbury's injury.

Bill Hall says he was almost drafted as a pitcher.

I hadn't pitched since high school. ... If I ever got the chance, I always wanted to just to see if I still had it. ... I threw hard, around 95, in high school. They wouldn't let me turn it loose or throw a curveball.

Since May 15, when he may have banged his knee on a play at the plate in Detroit, Dustin Pedroia has hit only .163 and slugged .204. He has a mere five hits in his last nine games.

There's nothing wrong with my knee. ... I don't make excuses if I get injured or something. ... I can guarantee you that I won't end the year hitting .260 or whatever the (expletive) I'm hitting now. ... I don't guarantee a lot, but that's for damn sure.

Also: Some in-depth talk about Clay Buchholz's slider.