Daisuke Matsuzaka struggled Saturday against the Marlins, while Alfredo Aceves was strong against the Orioles on a busy Saturday for the Red Sox.

Matsuzka allowed six hits and seven runs over three innings to Florida. He struck out one, walked two and allowed a two-run homer to DeWayne Wise.

Aceves, meanwhile, allowed just an unearned run against the Orioles in a game the teams would eventually tie, 4-4. The lone run came in his fourth and final inning of work. Oscar Tejeda had his second straight game with a two-run triple (for more on Tejeda, click here).

David Ortiz is 'mind is free' for the first time in quite a while. (AP)

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Speaking prior to the Red Sox’ spring training game against the Phillies Thursday at City of Palms Park Thursday, David Ortiz explained that a big reason for his early success is that his “mind is free right now.” The Sox’ designated hitter went on to explain that he prioritized taking care of “personal stuff” in the offseason so that nothing would be a distraction heading into 2011.

“I haven’t felt like this for a while,” he told WEEI.com. “There were a lot of things that I had to correct, and I did in the offseason.

“It wasn’t anything related to baseball. When you’re playing baseball you can’t be thinking about some other things. Baseball is a very complicated business so you have to make sure your mind is clear so you can think about what you’re doing. So this offseason I tried to fix everything that I could think of.”

Ortiz, who came into Thursday’s game having gone 5-for-8 with a home run but went 0-for-3 against the Phillies, wouldn’t specify what alterations he made in the offseason, simply saying, “I just needed to dedicate time to it. By the time I got to Fort Myers I had peace of mind.”

The DH explained that he has continued to be distraction-free, noting while talking that he didn’t even have his cell phone near him, a departure from his usual morning clubhouse routine.

“I can enjoy baseball now. What a difference,” he said. “I don’t even have my cell phone with me. That’s your No. 1 enemy, your cell phone.

“People sometimes don’t realize we have another life outside of baseball, and that life needs to be taken care of. You have family, you have kids, you have friends. A lot of stuff.

“In a situation like ours sometimes you don’t pay attention to little things and they accumulate slowly. It’s like when you have a car and the mirror breaks. You say you’ll fix that later. Then the window breaks, and you say I’ll fix that later. Then the next thing you know, the engine is screwed up. Next thing you know you have 20 things to fix at once, but you don’t have time to fix all 20 things. You’ve been accumulating things for years and then next thing you know you’ve got all that on top of you. Then people look at you and it seems you have a big old monkey on your back. Not anymore.”

For more spring training coverage, see the Red Sox team page at weei.com/redsox.

FORT MYERS, Fla. — While addressing the media Monday at the minor-league training facility, John Lackey was asked about where he worked out in the offseason. “Actually, I was in California most of the time because my wife was getting some treatment out there,” he said.

Later, Lackey explained to WEEI.com that the “treatment” Krista Lackey was undergoing throughout the offseason was to combat breast cancer, which the Red Sox’ pitcher’s wife was diagnosed with just prior to Thanksgiving.

Lackey, who was wearing a pink “Power Balance” bracelet on his left wrist as a way to further breast cancer awareness, explained that Krista “was doing really good,” and the University of New Hampshire graduate had caught the disease at a very early stage. The pitcher also wore sneakers with the Lance Armstrong motto “Livestrong” printed across them.

Lackey said at his introductory press conference with the Red Sox following the 2009 season that Krista, a Maine native, was a driving force in terms of encouraging the pitcher to sign a free-agent contract with the Sox.

After an offseason in California where Lackey explained he lost 10-12 pounds primarily through additional running, the 32-year-old was optimistic he could improve on a ’10 season in which he went 14-11 with a 4.40 ERA.

“There’s definitely room for improvement. I think experience of a year here will help, for sure,” he said. “I think I did some good things in the second half and hopefully just kind of keep that moving.”

For more spring training coverage, see the Red Sox team page at weei.com/redsox.

Here is another Dustin Pedroia video, this one coming from our landlords at New Balance. Theme: Don’t doubt on the Pedroia.

Ever wonder what that Athletes’ Performance facility is, exactly? Well, thanks to Framingham’s own Eric Dannenberg, a performance specialist at the Phoenix-based AP, (along with WEEI.com video mastermind Colin MacDonald), we offer a glimpse as to where the likes of Ryan Kalish and Jacoby Ellsbury worked out this offseason:

This time last year, Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz was unsure of what his role would be with the team. It was undetermined as to whether Buchholz would even be with Boston to open the season, as his name was mentioned in several trade rumors and minor league conversations. But after the season the young right-handed starter had last year, recording 17 wins with a 2.33 ERA, there is no question as to his role going into 2011.

But Buchholz said on Thursday that he doesn’t want to look at any of his numbers from last year when setting goals for himself for the upcoming season. He said that his main focus is getting into shape and preparing for the upcoming year ahead.

“My only goal is going into spring training being ready, and try to help this team get prepared in spring training and then be ready for our first game,” Buchholz said. “It’s tough to set goals because sometimes, as far as the numbers go, you might not meet them and then you might feel like it wasn’t a good season. As far as numbers go, I’m not going to set any goals. … I give just about all of the credit to the actual team, and all of the guys playing defense behind me.”

As far as the notion that his spot in the rotation is all but solidified, Buchholz said that he feels much better knowing that his name will be called, which he said withers away a lot of stress from last season.

“[The stress] isn’t going to be there as much as it was the last couple of years going in, but on the other side of it, going into spring training knowing that you don’t have a job solidified makes you work a little bit harder, just because you want to be with the big team,” Buchholz said. “I learned a lot last year; I learned a lot the year before that, and I’m trying to intertwine that into this offseason.”

Talking about the overall strength of the lineup this year, Buchholz said that he’s talked to a couple of people who said that it’s the best team on paper, and given everyone being ready coming into spring training, it could be a very eventful year for the Red Sox.