SAN DIEGO – Pitching in the same ballpark where he led Japan to the inaugural WBC title three years ago, Boston Red Sox ace Daisuke “Dice-K” Matsuzaka was brilliant in leading Japan to a 6-0 win over Cuba in the second round of the World Baseball Classic on Sunday.
Matsuzaka improved to 5-0 in five WBC starts by holding Cuba to five singles in six innings while striking out eight and walking none. The right-hander with the slow-motion windup has two wins in this edition of the WBC and was the MVP in 2006, when he went 3-0.
“I knew Cuba was a good team, but particularly there was nothing I was too worried about,” Matsuzaka said through a translator. “While I was doing the warming up, did I look so fierce? I thought I had a smile on my face, did I not?”
He should have. (AP)