Seattle Mariners 3 Boston Red Sox 0 (April 11, 2007)
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0 votes 
0 comments| W: | Felix Hernandez | 2-0 |
| L: | Daisuke Matsuzaka | 1-1 |
| S: | N/A | N/A |
In a game that was supposed to be all about Daisuke Matsuzaka's Fenway Park debut, young Seattle Mariners ace Felix Hernandez stole the show, showing why he deserves the nickname "King Felix." Hernandez pitched a complete game one-hit masterpiece, completely dismantling the same Red Sox lineup which hung 14 runs on his team just the night before. J.D. Drew had the lone hit for Boston, with a single up the middle with no outs in the 8th. There were only two other Sox baserunners in the entire game, walks to Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis.
Despite getting the loss, Matsuzaka did not really pitch all that poorly. He went 7 innings, gave up 3 ER, and only walked 1 while striking out 4, raising his ERA to 2.57. On any other day he would have had a chance to get the win, but Hernandez and the slick Seattle defense behind him had something to say about that (Jose Lopez in particular made some fantastic plays at 2nd for the Mariners). J.C. Romero and Joel Pineiro combined to throw two scoreless innings in relief of Matsuzaka.
Yuniesky Betancourt, Adrian Beltre, and Jose Vidro all drove in runs in support of King Felix. Ichiro Suzuki lost the much-publicized battle with his countryman Matsuzaka and continued his poor play in the series, going 0-5 with a strikeout. He has not had a hit in the series, but reached base on a fielder's choice today.
Coming up next... Tomorrow is the rubber match, as the Mariners send out Jarrod Washburn (0-0, 3.00) to face knuckleballer Tim Wakefield (0-1, 1.50) for the Sox. Game time is 4:05 ET.
Date
April 11, 2007
