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Francona plays down Dice-K troubles

Although those in Red Sox Nation are collectively wringing their hands at the recent difficulties of starting pitcher Daisuke Matsuzuka, manager Terry Francona certainly didn't sound overly concerned about the rookie when he addressed the media during Monday's pregame press conference prior to the Sox taking on Tampa Bay at Fenway Park.

Francona wouldn't even define his recent performances as any sort of slump, even though the righthander is 1-4 in his last five starts with a bloated 9.57 earned-run average. On Saturday night, he suffered through his worst major-league start in Baltimore, lasting just two and two thirds innings, giving up six hits and eight runs to the Orioles.

"I don't think that's what it is,'' said Francona. "There have been some inconsistencies not in a five-game stretch but in innings of games. I think it's too difficult for me to answer that just like that. We certainly recognize there are some inconsistencies and we spend a lot of time trying to figure those things out along with Dice-K and [catcher Jason Varitek], with a lot of people. But I don't want to put it into a nutshell like that because I don't think its correct. I don't think it helps him because I don't think it's the way it is."

Francona said it's part of the learning curve for Matsuzaka, who is 7-9 in his last 16 decisions and has a 14-12 record. The skipper said every pitcher struggles at times.

"He's not going through anything that [other pitchers haven't] gone through," said Francona. "I go back to the Toronto game, he found the strike zone to start the game better than any he started the whole year," said Francona. "So we need to recognize not only what's going wrong but what goes right. I think we need to be cognizant of the work load. We try to manage that, we certainly talk about it."