Red Sox manager Terry Francona, in his weekly appearance on the Dale & Holley Show on Wednesday, said that he talked to pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka this morning and agreed with the pitcher that the two sides should now move forward. While Francona reiterated that he was "disappointed" with the pitcher's comments to a Japanese reporter, and that Matsuzaka "betrayed our trust a little bit," the two sides agreed to move on from the incident.
"Not everyone is perfect. We all make mistakes," said Francona. "What is important is how we move on from those mistakes. He was actually great. He owns up to the way he made the mistake...We were kind of agitated, but I think he’s in a pretty good place. This will blow over. My job is to help him get going to the right place."
Francona also touched on other topics of note to the Red Sox:
--Tonight's lineup: Mike Lowell will serve as the Red Sox' designated hitter tonight, with Adam LaRoche at first, Kevin Youkilis at third and David Ortiz (as planned yesterday) getting the night off against left-handed starter Brett Anderson.
--The difference between closer Jonathan Papelbon's performance this year as compared to previous seasons: Francona acknowledges that the closer's struggles with walks have been apparent, but he said that is at least in part just the nature of the beast with relievers, who tend to experience year-to-year inconsistency because of their short stints and small sample sizes of innings.
"When you walk people, you’re asking for trouble...I still don’t think he’s wild," said Francona. "We’ve been accustomed to a couple years of single-digit walks over the course of the year. That may not be realistic or attainable every year."
--The nature of the trade deadline: "It is a little unsettling around here."
--The Jim Rice retirement ceremony: "That's a pretty special night for a pretty special man...Part of what makes it great is that there are no gadgets. There is no mustard race. (Fenway Park) is a pretty special place."