Matsuzaka came out empty

No pain, but little gain in his return

Back from the disabled list, Daisuke Matsuzaka was not much of a mystery to the Cardinals, who scored seven runs off him. (Barry Chin/Globe Staff)

Daisuke Matsuzaka couldn't think of anything that was good in his start against the Cardinals yesterday. The Red Sox righthander's first game since being placed on the disabled list May 30 because of a mild strain of his rotator cuff turned into an abbreviated outing.

He faced nine batters in the first inning and loaded the bases with no outs in the second, when Chris Smith was summoned to make his major league debut. By the time the dust settled, the Red Sox were down, 8-0, and did not recover as the Cardinals ran away with a 9-3 win.

"I can't really think of anything that was good," Matsuzaka said through interpreter Masa Hoshino. "Things were mostly bad today. I just hope that I can get back to a good spot as we go forward and when I'm given my next chance to start, I hope I can do better."

For Matsuzaka, the fall began with the first batter.

Leadoff hitter Skip Schumaker walked and Aaron Miles followed with a two-run homer, his first since last September. Matsuzaka gave up a two-out single to Jason LaRue that drove in two more runs for a 4-0 Cardinal lead.

The struggles continued into the second inning when Matsuzaka sandwiched walks around a Miles single to load the bases. Smith came in and got one out before Troy Glaus hammered a grand slam into the Monster seats for an 8-0 lead.

Matsuzaka faced 12 batters, giving up six hits, three walks, and seven earned runs, while throwing 24 of 48 pitches for strikes.

While Matsuzaka couldn't find a bright side, Sox manager Terry Francona found some comfort in that his pitcher was not in pain.

"From the very first hitter, they were squaring up balls," Francona said. "Walks, balls-to-strikes ratio weren't very good, hitters had deep counts, it just was not a very good day. Because he just came off the disabled list, we were glad to hear him say, 'I'm fine, I'm OK, no soreness, no fatigue, just didn't pitch very well.' "

In Matsuzaka's rehab start with Triple A Pawtucket Monday, he struck out five, walked one, and allowed three hits against 18 batters in a 9-6 win. He threw 47 of 65 pitches for strikes in the start.

Yesterday, he was left looking for answers for the rocky performance. The last time a Red Sox starter had such a short outing was in 2004, when Derek Lowe lasted an inning.

"Even though today was a shorter outing than we hoped for, he did come out of it feeling fine physically," pitching coach John Farrell said. "It wasn't as consistent or comparable to the way he threw the ball in the rehab start. So again, I think the most productive thing out of today is that he came out in the physical condition that he felt fine or he felt good to himself. But the overall crispness, the command, the reaction to the stuff was well below his normal standards."

Farrell said there are questions about the quality of the start and he expects a few conversations with Matsuzaka.

Matsuzaka said he doesn't need another rehab start and Farrell said he anticipates Matsuzaka will make his scheduled start against Houston Friday.

Monique Walker can be reached at mwalker@globe.com