Red Sox look ahead but Matsuzaka struggles to move on

By Steve Keating

CLEVELAND, Ohio (Reuters) - While the Boston Red Sox quickly put a Game Three loss to the Cleveland Indians behind them and turned their attention to Game Four on Tuesday, pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka was having more trouble moving on.

After surrendering all four runs in a 4-2 loss on Monday that allowed the Indians to seize a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven American League Championship Series, a disconsolate Matsuzaka sat staring into his locker for more than an hour after the game.

It was the second consecutive post-season flop for the 27-year-old Japanese pitcher, who was unwilling or unable to shed any light on his struggles that have seen him fail to work through five innings in either of his starts.

"I think he's been carrying a lot of responsibility, and that's probably far too simplistic," Red Sox manager Terry Francona told reporters.

"All that notoriety that came with him signing with the Red Sox, the cultural differences.

"There have been times during the year where we'll take him out and he'll be apologetic.

The right-hander with the mysterious gyro-ball pitch, was the most talked about signing on both sides of the Pacific after the Red Sox dished out $51 million to the Seibu Lions just for the rights to talk to the pitcher.

The hype increased when they signed him to a $52 million deal prior to the start of the season.