Big-Time Saturday

Coming off of the strongest outing of his short MLB career, Daisuke Matsuzaka will be facing off against Braves veteran John Smoltz on Saturday. Matsuzaka scattered 6 hits, no walks, and only gave up one run (on a solo homer) while striking out five in a complete game domination of the AL-Champ tigers. Daisuke's MO in Japan was having control, low numbers of walks, and giving up runs on the homer rather than a string of hits. Daisuke's return to form with the Red Sox is encouraging, as he's starting to look a lot like the pitcher they scouted in Japan.

Smoltz injured the pinky on his throwing hand Monday on a fielding play, and still may be a bit of a question mark on Saturday. Smoltz looks every bit as good as his 5-2, 3.19 era, 1.3 whip and around 8 k/9 would suggest, but he may not on his game Tomorrow.