A three-run Washington fourth inning applied most of the damage in Red Sox starter Daisuke Matsuzaka's four-run, five-inning debut Saturday.BOSTON - Stephen Strasburg? Very good.
Gio Gonzalez? Even better.
On the day of Daisuke Matsuzaka's return to the Red Sox, it was the Washingon left-hander who put on a pitching clinic at Fenway Park.
The Nationals' 4-2 win slipped Boston back under .500 at 29-30. The Sox have lost five of their last six.
A year after undergoing Tommy John elbow surgery, Matsuzaka left with a 4-0 deficit after five innings.
"Leading up to this start was probably the most nervous I have been since I've been in Boston,'' Matsuzaka said through a translator.
"Every time I pitch, I want to give the team a chance to win. Losing was very disappointing, but I did see some positives for my next start (against the Cubs Friday), and I definitely felt better than in my rehab starts.''
He allowed five hits, struck out eight and threw 52 of his 80 pitches for strikes.
Asked to assess Matsuzaka's performance, Bobby Valentine's first reaction was a shrug.
"I didn't like the four runs and the four balls to Bryce Harper. Other than that, I liked what I saw,'' Valentine said.
"Pretty good offspeed stuff. He threw strikes and commanded both sides of the plate.''
Matsuzaka's only walk was to Harper, who was leading off in the fourth. That led to a pivotal three-run inning.
"The walk hurt me the most. I wish I could have that back,'' Matsuzaka said.
The bullpen threw four hitless innings, three of them by Franklin Morales, the new long man.
"We've been stretching him out. I have a better feeling he has some length,'' said Valentine, who used Morales for 4 1/3 innings last Sunday and says the left-hander could someday get a spot start.
Red Sox pitchers had 13 strikeouts Saturday, and 23 in two games of this series. It's the Nationals who have the best pitching staff in baseball, though, and Gonzalez is a big part of the reason.
Valentine ascribed Gonzalez' successful outing to three factors - good pitching, the challenge of facing a left-hander in a late-afternoon game at Fenway, and plate umpire Dana DeMuth's strike zone.
"It looked like Gonzalez had a lot of good stuff the hitters were swinging at. There were also a lot of close calls that turned innings around,'' Valentine said.
"His pitches were moving a lot. Hard to hit, hard to see.''
Gonzalez (8-2) was the National League pitcher of the month in May, after teammate Strasburg had won it in April.
Boston was rumored to be interested in Gonzalez during the offseason, but the Nationals traded four players for him in December.
He struck out five Saturday. That did not match Strasburg's six-inning, 13-K outing of Friday.
The Red Sox managed two runs and four hits off Strasburg. Gonzalez gave up two runs on three hits in 6 1/3 innings.
Both runs came home after he had left in the seventh, when Michael Gonzalez served up pinch-hitter Jarrod Saltalamacchia's two-run single.
Dustin Pedroia went 1-for-4 with an infield single. He is 2-for-20 since returning after missing a week with a jammed thumb, but says he feels fine.
Pedroia, David Ortiz and Kevin Youkilis are a combined 7-for-56 (.125) on the homestand that ends Sunday.