"The walks killed him, as they always do. Daisuke Matsuzaka issued five walks with two of the runners coming around to score, as the pitcher known for throwing too many pitches and allowing too many free passes continued that trend last night against the Orioles.

Combined with his last two outings, Matsuzaka has 13 walks in his last 16 innings, exactly what a team does not want to see. Yet, that is who Matsuzaka has been over his four seasons in Boston, too willing to give up bases to opponents, too free with his walks. With all those extra chances allowed, Matsuzaka has given up at least four runs in each of his last seven starts and in eight of his last nine, a troubling trend for a team that needed him.

"Walks have a way of coming back to score,'' manager Terry Francona said. "Not all the time, but even when they don't, you have to pitch out of the stretch, makes it a lot more difficult inning. They haven't been squaring up a ton of balls. Giving them bases on balls, it makes it harder.''"