Dice-K dazzles in debut

After striking out three times, Ryan Shealy sounded amazed. "I didn't know he threw that hard," he said. He's got a bunch of plus-pitches," Shealy said. "A lot of guys have a good fastball or have good offspeed stuff, but he seems to have both." Dice-K was more than OK in his major league debut. With millions of early rising viewers keeping track on Japanese television, Daisuke Matsuzaka struck out 10 in seven innings in his major league debut Thursday to lead the Boston Red Sox over the Kansas City Royals 4-1.

"I can't say that my overall condition was that great today, but I think the role of a starting pitcher is to set up the game and give my teammates the opportunity to win," he said through an interpreter. "I feel like I was able to do that today, so I was satisfied."

On a cold, blustery afternoon, Matsuzaka (1-0) allowed six hits, including a sixth-inning homer by David DeJesus, and walked one. DeJesus joked about the famed "gyroball," a pitch Dice-K may or may not throw. "I think it was the gyroball," he laughed when asked what he hit for the home run. "No, it was a fastball. I didn't think it was going to go, but the ball kept carrying."

He looked every bit the ace Boston committed $103 million to. His fastball clocked at 95 mph and his famed array of fastballs, changeups and breaking pitches at times was dazzling. Flashing a reddish-orange glove during his slow-motion windup, he retired 10 batters in a row during one stretch starting with the final out of the first inning. He struck out the side in the fourth on 14 pitches.

Kansas City manager Buddy Bell strained to think of a pitcher to compare him with. "I will tell you this -- I was pretty impressed," Bell said. "He just really had a feel for what he was doing. Everything he did was absolutely solid. Everything that he tried to do."

Even though it was against the weak Royals lineup, look for more performances like this one from Dice-K in 2007.
Source: AP