Roll the Dice

Alas! Dice-K strings together two pretty decent outings in a row. Only 2 walks in his last 2 starts? What's gotten into him? Fine by me though, because it's translating into Boston victories. Matsuzaka is 5-2 now on the season and brought his ERA under 5 tonight with 8 shutout frames. Daniel Bard was a little shaky in the ninth, but we can only hope that it was just a few nerves as a first-time legitimate closer. Luckily, the Sox were able to add a pair of runs late to pad the lead and take some pressure off Bard. With Tampa Bay and New York both off tonight, the Sox were able to pick up a half game on each of them. They are now 4 games behind the Rays for the division and just 2 back of the Yankees for second place. Things are looking good of late for Boston, and they will look to lock up another series win in the next few nights, starting tomorrow with knuckler Tim Wakefield. Start time 7:05 PM EDT.