Matsuzaka disables Angels in brilliant return

In his first game in nearly three months, Daisuke Matsuzaka threw six-plus innings of scoreless ball as the Sox dropped the Angels, 4-1, on Tuesday to up their Wild Card edge to 5 1/2.

For most of Tuesday night, the difference was all about the pitches. They were faster, they were crisper and much less hittable than when Daisuke Matsuzaka was last seen in a Major League game. But when the Red Sox's right-hander exited following a sparkling effort -- en route to a 4-1 victory over the Angels -- the difference was all in the vocal chords of the Fenway faithful.
With a runner on first and nobody out in the seventh, Red Sox manager Terry Francona came out to get Matsuzaka, and the fans were up on their feet, roaring with approval. Dice-K gave a hearty tip of his cap and walked back into the dugout, getting the same type of warmth from his teammates that he got from the crowd. It wasn't like that when Matsuzaka last pitched for the Red Sox the night of June 19, when he was booed off the mound after giving up eight hits and six runs in four-plus innings.
In his return, Matsuzaka fired six-plus innings of shutout baseball, allowing three hits. He walked three and struck out five, throwing 93 pitches.