No Dice: Sox Streak Ends at 6

Daisuke Matsuzaka became the latest casualty in the Great Red Sox Flu Outbreak of 2008. For the second night in a row, a starting pitcher was a late scratch, but last night the results were not so good. On short rest, Jon Lester got the start and promptly put the Sox in a hole that was later dug out by a David Ortiz home run that tied the game at 4 in the 5th.

One-day callup Craig Hansen, who had been steamrolling the competition at Triple-A, gave up a go-ahead home run to Casey Kotchman and from there the Angels cruised to victory, 6-4. Hansen was immediately sent back to Pawtucket to make room for Double-A phenom Justin Masterson who has posted a minuscule .95 ERA in three starts this season. One can only hope he can limit the hot-hitting Angels to three or fewer runs.