Boston's Matsuzaka suffers fatigue in loss to Mariners
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Boston starting pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka was forced out early with shoulder "fatigue" in his side's 4-3 loss against the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday.
Matsuzaka was forced to leave the game before the bottom of the fifth inning with his side trailing 3-0.
Boston rallied on a three-run homer from Manny Ramirez, the 499th home run of his career, in the sixth to tie the game up before Jose Lopez hit a two-out single in the bottom of the ninth inning to snap a seven-game losing streak for the Mariners.
Matsuzaka, who had been attempting to extend his record to a tie for the major-league leading 9-0, threw just two warm-up pitches in the fifth before catcher Jason Varitek and manager Terry Francona visited him on the mound.
"He felt some, I guess fatigue is the right word," Francona told reporters. "We're not going to run somebody out there when we think there's a chance.
"There's too long of a season. I don't think he really wanted to give the ball up, but it's a long year. It doesn't make sense to me to do something like that.
"He was examined by our medical people and we'll keep an eye on him. You're always going to err on the side of caution."
Matsuzaka is to undergo more tests on Wednesday.
He had allowed three runs, two earned, on four hits over four innings before leaving the game.
"Even before I went up on the mound, I felt that things were a little bit off in the bullpen," Matsuzaka said through an interpreter. "I wouldn't go so far as to call it discomfort.
"I wasn't at my best, even before going into the game. After pitching the third inning, I definitely felt that there was something wrong.
"At that point, I had a conversation with the coaching staff. I did go back out there for the fourth, but I thought it best to stop at that point."
Reliever Mike Timlin (2-3) took the loss when Lopez belted his pitch down the left-field line.
Boston is half a game behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East. The Rays lost 12-6 at home to Texas.
The Mariners still have the worst record in the major leagues at 19-34.
(Writing by Roger Lajoie; Editing by Greg Stutchbury)
