1. How will the recently inconsistent Daisuke Matsuzaka and Scott Kazmir pitch?
Matsuzaka went 18-3 during the regular season, but that won-loss record masks the wild inconsistency that he tended to show within his starts, when he'd go deep into ball-strike counts, dangle on the precipice of disaster and wind up leaving a ton of outs for the relievers to take care of; he averaged a staggering 4.06 pitches per batter, and wound up throwing about six innings per start. In his first-round start against the Angels, Matsuzaka needed 108 pitches to get through five innings -- and the Rays are familiar with his tendency to want to nick the strike zone, having drawn 11 walks in 15 innings against him during the regular season.
He tends to survive with this rope-a-dope style, which is why he's won so many games. Can he avoid the big hit? We'll see. There's no telling
what the Red Sox will get from Matsuzaka, writes Gerry Callahan.
Kazmir has had great moments in previous years against the Red Sox, but not in 2008, when he surrendered 24 hits and 18 earned runs in 18 innings. And in his last start against Boston, he was nothing short of awful, with his velocity down to the high-80s.
Kazmir looked frustrated in that outing. He allowed two runs in 5 2/3 innings against the White Sox in his first playoff start, and the Rays desperately need Kazmir to be more like
that guy than the guy who got hammered by the Red Sox the last time around.
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Buster Olney
