Dice-K loses his command

Ty Hampton
Sox Swagger

-- Dice-K threw 9 pitches to his first batter on Thursday for a leadoff walk.

That's about how Matzusaka's night went, struggling to gain command of his pitches throughout. Frankly its mildly amazing that this only a 4-3 loss.

All-in-all Dice lasted only 4-2/3 innings givng up 3 runs on 2 hits and a lethal 8 walks (5 of which came in the Royals' 3-run 5th inning. Dice is now 3-2 with a 5.77 ERA even after throwing a stunning 1-hitter in his last start in Philadelphia.

The Sox bats didn't look to shabby but definitely weren't on fire, in that respect, either. Beltre and Varitek had RBI nights, Tek's coming off a double, and Bill Hall had a solo shot.

Sox record: (27-22)
Yay's:
- The bullpen stand of Joe Nelson, Manny Delcarmen and Ramon Ramirez looked strong over 4-1/3 innings only giving up 2 hits and 1 run.

- One loss in a Kansas City 4-game set is nothing to signal the alarm about. If the Sox take the next 2 or 3 I think Sox fans have to remain happy about the way things are going for their team who are really on a tear here in May.

Nay's:
- Dice-K's lack of consistency is something I'm sure the Sox staff would like to see level out as the season progresses.

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