A Little Added Pressure for Dice-K

When Daisuke Matsuzaka takes the mound tonight for the Salem Red Sox he will be pitching in game 1 of a best of 5 playoff series against Winston-Salem. This is the inaugural season for the Salem Red Sox so Dice-K will have the added pressure of starting thier first ever playoff game. Even though it is a single A game, the added pressure should give us some indication as to Dice-K's ability to rejoin the rotation as a dependable pitcher for the remainder of the season.

"This is a great way to kick off the 2009 post season for the Salem Sox," said Salem General Manager John Katz. "It's always exciting to have a major-leaguer on the field, and to have a pitcher the caliber of Daisuke Matsuzaka on the bump in game one is really something special."