Daisuke Impressive

For the first time since his debut against the Kansas City Royals, Daisuke Matsuzaka looked every bit the part of a pitcher that the Red Sox shelled out $51 million to talk to and another $52 million in salary to bring to Boston. Over seven impressive innings and 109 pitches, Daisuke shut down the struggling Toronto Blue Jays. He allowed just one run (on a Lyle Overbay homerun in the sixth inning) and five hits, he walked just three batters and struck out eight. The rookie hurler -- don't forget that -- is now 4-2 with a 4.80 ERA. The control problems he has had were not a factor last night. Matsuzaka threw more fastballs, especially early in the count, and he dominated the Blue Jays. His next start will be against the defending American League champion Detroit Tigers on Monday at Fenway Park. This will be a key start because not only are the Tigers an impressive team -- their lineup features Gary Sheffield, Magglio Ordonez and Pudge Rodriguez -- but Daisuke has struggled mightily in his three home starts. His 1-1 record is hidden by a 7.58 ERA and 32 base runners allowed (21 hits, 7 walks and 4 hit batters) in 19 innings pitched. The Fenway Faithful will be watching intently to see if last night's start was the start of the dominance that Matsuzaka's talents promise or if more hard lessons have to be learned before he asserts himself in America.