Francona: Matsuzaka 'okay' in Japan's WBC win over South Korea

Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka got his first win in the World Baseball Classic, pitching four solid innings today as Japan beat up on Olympic champion South Korea, 14-2.

Pitching in front of a packed house in Tokyo, the 2006 WBC MVP allowed two runs and four hits, walking two, while striking out one.

He started off poorly, allowing a two-run home run to South Korea's Kim Tae-Kyun in the first, but then settled down for three scoreless innings.

"He looked okay. He threw a couple good breaking balls. Left a couple over the middle of the plate the first inning," said manager Terry Francona, who watched most of Matsuzaka's start.

"A little shaky first inning, 29-pitch first inning, gave up some hard hits in the second, but they had a baserunning error. Then he settled down and got eight of the last nine guys out," Francona said.

Matsuzaka threw 65 pitches in the start, 39 of them for strikes. It didn't look like

Matsuzaka wasn't throwing too hard and was treating it as a de-facto spring training start, which pleased Francona.

If Japan continues to win in the WBC however, Matsuzaka will naturally have to work deeper into games, which worried his manager slightly. If Japan makes it to the finals towards the end of the month, it's likely his pitch counts would rise above 100 -- perhaps before his arm is fully stretched out.

"If they go all the way, he'll be at 110 or 105, which is a lot for March 25," Francona said.