'The King' Upstages Dice-K's Debut

By: Joel Brennan, Sports Journalism

In what was suppose to be Diasuke Matsuzaka's coming out party in Boston, but Seattle's 'King' Felix Hernandez provided the rain to ruin the festivities. Hernandez pitched a complete game, one-hitter and struck out six in the Mariner's 3-0 win, Wednesday night.

Hernandez, who just turned 21, retired the first eight batters he faced and set the tone of the game from the on-set. "He had everything going on tonight. He was just impossible," Boston's David Ortiz said. Through seven innings Hernandez was flirting with history, when J.D. Drew broke up the no-hitter on the first pitch in the eighth.

Matsuzaka, a.k.a. Dice-K, made his highly anticipated debut in from of a sellout Fenway Park. Dice-K's first pitch was against fellow countryman, Ichiro Suzuki. "He's a hitter that I've wanted to face since my days in Japan," Matsuzaka said, "so, compared to the other batters; I may have been a little more conscious of his at-bats." Despite Matsuzaka's rocky performance (7 IP, 3R, 8H, 4K, 2BB), he did get the best of Suzuki, who went o-5 and struck out once. "That was a moment that probably only Daisuke and I could have created," Suzuki said through an interpreter. "To be in that moment, I'm happy."

In the second inning, the Mariners silenced the crowd with their first score. Jose Guillen scored from third on a sacrifice fly. The Mariners would string together a few hits in the fifth. Adrian Beltre and Jose Vidro would each tally an RBI as the Mariners extended their lead to 3.

In addition to Ichiro, Matsuzaka (1-1) also faced Kenji Johjima, Seattle's catcher. Although not as hyped, these two have a history in which Johjima batted .271 against Dice-K. In the game, Johjima went 2-3 including two doubles and a walk.

In two games, Hernandez (2-0) has pitched 17 innings and hasn't allowed a run, striking out 18. Through 58 batters faced, only seven have been able to get the ball to the outfield and only four of them have reached base successfully.

On the other side, Boston catcher and team captain, Jason Varitek, was celebrating his 35th birthday. Though most fans were there to see the debut of Dice-K, some fans managed to make themselves known with signs of birthday wishes for the beloved Red Sox leader. However, Varitek struggled, like the rest of the team, going 0-3 including a strikeout.

Drew's hit in the eighth, not only broke Hernandez's streak of hitless innings, but also extended his own eight game hitting streak.

The last time Boston was on the wrong side of a no-hitter was April 22, 1993 against the Seattle Mariners' Chris Bosio.