Jason Varitek was very honest after his battery mate Daisuke Matsuzaka went out and threw six scoreless innings Tuesday night in his return to the majors after three months sidelined with shoulder fatigue. The Red Sox captain admitted he, like everyone else, didn’t know what to expect.

” I don’t see how anybody (doesn’t have nerves),” Varitek said of what he was feeling as he got ready to catch the Red Sox righty. “You play your first spring training game you have a little nerves. You play your first game you haven’t played in a little while, you have a little nerves. I can’t speak for him but nerves, excitement, all the above, I had them, too. I didn’t know what (to expect).”

For the first time since catching him on June 19 in a loss to the Atlanta Braves, Varitek had the chance to see first-hand how much Matsuzaka had improved.

And it was clear to see for all, including Varitek, from the first pitch in the first inning that Matsuzaka was locating his fastball for strikes. That first pitch was a strike to Angels leadoff man Chone Figgins. The irony was that he went up 0-2 before losing him to a walk on seven pitches. But still Varitek had reason to feel optimistic.   Read the rest of this entry »

With the pending tropical storm bearing down on New England and the Eastern seaboard, the Red Sox have pushed back Daisuke Matsuzaka’s rehab start from Saturday to Sunday in Manchester, NH.

“Daisuke will now pitch Sunday in New Hampshire,” Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. “There was some cooperation from their club and our organization. They obviously were going to have a big crowd tomorrow. The forecast is horrible. It was supposed to be a doubleheader and what they’re doing is playing a single game.”

Matsuzaka, who has been with the team in Boston all week, will pitch for Boston’s Double-A affiliate in Portland against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats in the first game on Sunday at 4 p.m. Red Sox manager Terry Francona made the announcement before Friday’s game, adding that the team is still hopeful to have Matsuzaka back for a Sept. 9 start against Baltimore at Fenway Park.

“When I stated that Daisuke could come back and pitch on the eighth, what we really wanted is for him to pitch on the ninth,” Francona added. “So, that actually works out perfect.”

Red Sox manager Terry Francona said Daisuke Matsuzaka could return to the Boston rotation as early as Sept. 8 following his 37-pitch outing for the Gulf Coast Red Sox on Monday.

“Everything was pretty good,” Francona said. “Good breaking ball, he commanded his fastball and he stayed down. (He) threw some good changeups. I thought it was generally really positive.”

(Click here to watch video of the outing, courtesy WBBH-TV Fort Myers, Fla.)

The right-hander is rehabbing and strengthening his right shoulder and he will make his next appearance for Double-A Portland on Saturday. He is expected to make at least one more appearance before a decision is made on whether to return in early September.

“The improvement on his strength numbers are phenomenal,” Francona said.

Francona said that the initial conflict over the training program for Matsuzaka is now water under the bridge and both the team and Matsuzaka are moving ahead in unison.

“He’s done a phenomental job. Getting him back at full strength, being Dice-K will be very welcome. I think we probably needed to do this. Sometimes you have to butt heads, however you get there, getting there is what’s important and we’ve done that.”

Francona will see Matsuzaka in Boston when he returns on Tuesday to meet with the team.