The Red Sox have seen this before from Daisuke Matsuzaka.

One outing, he shows the brilliance that attracted scouts from all over the baseball world to Japan five years ago to watch him pitch.

The next outing, those closest to him can’t understand why he can’t throw a strike.

Unfortunately for the Red Sox, the latter Matsuzaka was the one that showed up Thursday night at Fenway Park against Kansas City and it came with another red flag – another potential ailment to watch.

After walking eight batters and hitting another over 4 2/3 innings against Kansas City on Thursday night, Matsuzaka said he experienced ‘lower body soreness’ since allowing just one hit over eight shutout innings last Saturday in Philadelphia.

“It’s tough to say how much effect there was because it’s really a matter of my personal feel,” Matsuzaka (3-2, 5.77) said through interpreter Masa Hoshino. “So I don’t think I can describe. I think, looking back on it, yes, there was an effect.”

[Click here to listen to pitching coach John Farrell break down Matsuzaka's outing.]

[Click here to hear from his catcher Jason Varitek.]

The eight walks by Matsuzaka matched a career high with the Red Sox, equaling eight free passes on May 5, 2008.

“I don’t think that’s the most important issue,” Matsuzaka said of his lower body issue. “It might have looked like I got out of those innings OK but in my mind, I still felt there were still adjustments I needed to make. It’s been a long time since my body didn’t cooperate like this. I had to rely a lot on my upper body. My velocity was there but there was no movement or bite to my pitches, not to mention any command.”