"After the fourth inning last night, Daisuke Matsuzaka returned to the Red Sox dugout and stretched his right arm, catching the eye of manager Terry Francona. Then, as he released his first few pitches in the fifth, he altered his delivery enough that it got catcher Jason Varitek's attention.

Clearly, something was amiss.

So, after Seattle Mariners star Ichiro Suzuki drove a leadoff single up the middle, Francona, Varitek and athletic trainer Mike Reinold visited the mound. And although Matsuzaka believed he could keep pitching, he admitted to feeling "stiffness" in his elbow and consented to leave the game with nobody out in the fifth inning and the Red Sox leading by two runs.

The good news, it appears, is that Matsuzaka isn't seriously injured. The Red Sox labeled the injury "right elbow tightness," and Francona expressed optimism that Matsuzaka will make his next start, scheduled for Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Angels.

But that merely was the silver lining to a 5-4 series-opening loss to the Mariners in which reliever Bobby Jenks fumbled another lead by surrendering a two-out, two-run double to Jack Cust in the decisive seventh inning.

"I don't even know what to say right now," Jenks said after his ERA swelled to 8.64. "I'm going out there, I feel terrific, all my stuff is there. Just the results aren't. I don't know what to make of it.""