Loaded Dice

His teammates noticed. After the game, as Matsuzaka was near his locker, Clay Buchholz walked up to him with words of encouragement and a pat on the back. There might be little time left, but the pitcher made his presence felt, beginning to make up for the time lost.

Not only has he lost significant bulk, and gained shoulder strength, but he returned a changed man. At least for one outing, Matsuzaka was exactly what he had not been in his eight previous starts this year. He was efficient, and effective.

While the true reviews will take more time, the beginning was good for Matsuzaka. He beat the Sox’ likely foe in the first round of the playoffs, a goal that got closer for Boston as it gained another game on the Rangers. The Sox’ wild-card lead is now six games in the loss column.

“I’ve never struggled as much as I have this year, so in that sense I think it’s a little bit special,’’ Matsuzaka said about the win.

The Angels didn’t collect their first hit until the fifth inning, when Kendry Morales led off with a single to right. With one out, Erick Aybar got a single that pushed Morales to third. Then Aybar stole second. But Jeff Mathis struck out swinging and Chone Figgins did too, keeping the scoreless tie intact.

“In that situation, I resigned myself to maybe having one run score, but I also knew the other pitcher [John Lackey] was pitching very well and I really didn’t want to let in any runs,’’ Matsuzaka said. “So I got the ideal result that I wanted.’’