Monstrous fourth not a disaster
NEW YORK -- Looks like Dice-K is the Yankees' Daddy.
Boston's $103 million man endured a horrible fourth inning last night -- three walks, three hits, and four runs on 41 pitches -- but he was still good enough to beat the reeling New York Yankees for the second time in six days.
After the lengthy 11-4 Sox win, Daisuke Matsuzaka made a face when he was asked if he derived any "personal satisfaction" from beating the Yankees twice in less than a week. The question flies in the face of "team above self," which is a trademark of Japanese baseball.
"I wouldn't say any personal satisfaction in beating the Yankees," Matsuzaka answered through his translator. "But as a team, we're very happy."
And as a Nation, Sox fans are very happy. The first-place Sox have now pounded the erstwhile Bombers four consecutive times in the last eight days and take a 6 1/2-game lead over New York into this afternoon's nationally televised game. The Sox are up, the Yankees are down (seven straight losses), and this is the time to put a cleat on the throats of the Pinstriped Bunch.
Dice-K is certainly doing his part. Last night's victory raised his record to 3-2. His ERA is 4.36 and rising, but beating the Yankees is all that matters.
"There might not be a lot of games against these guys that are artistic," acknowledged Sox manager Terry Francona. "These guys are good hitters. They make you work . . . We were very close to taking him out in the fourth inning, but the good news is that he gathered himself."
In a season of Dice-K "firsts," this was perhaps the last first.
Go back in time. There was the first press conference. Then the first bullpen session, the first live batting practice, the first exhibition game against Boston College, the first Sports Illustrated cover, the first
Finally, the first game in Yankee Stadium.
He blanked the Yankees in five of his six innings and fanned Robinson Cano three times in three tries. He walked Hideki Matsui once, but got Godzilla on two fly outs. He threw 117 pitches, which is practically a day off for the man who loves to throw.
We've been hearing that Dice-K has already experienced all the pressure he will ever know. He won the prestigious Koshien tournament when he was in high school. He won the World Baseball Classic for a country that really cared about the tournament.
But maybe The House That Ruth Built was a little intimidating, after all. Maybe the monuments and the pinstripes and the God-like voice of Bob Sheppard and the muscle-flexing Yankee lineup were somewhat daunting for the 26-year-old righthander.
The fourth was frightful. He walked the first three batters and failed to record an out over his first 27 pitches. It added up to four runs and 41 pitches on an otherwise nifty night. It was the worst inning of Dice-K's young major league career.
The trouble started when Alex Rodriguez put a good swing on a 2-and-2 pitch and fouled the ball to the backstop. A-Rod walked, then Jason Giambi walked on four pitches. This inspired a visit to the mound by pitching coach John Farrell as Godzilla strode to the plate.
Matsui took a vicious cut at the first pitch and fouled it off. He worked the count to 3 and 2 and Dice-K walked about the mound like a man who did not want to deliver the payoff pitch. Ball four was way out of the strike zone, up and away.
With the bases loaded and none out, Jorge Posada popped up a 1-and-1 pitch and it landed in front of a sliding Manny Ramírez for an RBI single. With J.C. Romero warming up in the bullpen, Dice-K fanned Cano for out No. 1 on his 28th pitch of the inning. After Doug Mientkiewicz popped up, Johnny Damon hit a two-run single to right and Derek Jeter followed with an RBI single to right.
"If I got into a lot of the things that happened in the fourth inning, it would be a long story and it would sound like I was making excuses," said Matsuzaka. "I would just say that, technically, there are things I need to work on."
"It was like the game was in segments," said Francona. "He had the miserable fourth. It was alarming, the number of pitches he was throwing. In the dugout, we didn't know how much longer he could go. I just think he started rushing a little bit."
New York led, 4-2, after four, but as we have seen in every meeting this year, the Sox came back and took the lead. There's a real crisis here in the Empire. The back page of yesterday's Daily News featured a photo of a sleepy Joe Torre next to the headline, "Wake Up!"
It won't be any kinder today.
Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. His e-mail address is dshaughnessy@globe.com. 
