The only thing familiar was the backdrop.
 
When Daisuke Matsuzaka took his place at the Fenway Park interview room table following the Red Sox' 8-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves on Friday night, there was the familiar "Funai" screen set up in back of the pitcher and his translator, Masa Hoshino.
 
But other than the advertisement, the scene had morphed into something few could imagine in the midst of Matsuzaka Mania upon his arrival 2 1/2 years ago.
 
After giving up six runs on eight hits and four walks over four innings -- which included a Nate McLouth homer on the very first pitch of the game -- Matsuzaka didn't have any semblance of the look of the pitcher in whom the Sox invested $103 million.
 
"I can probably say that never before have I faced such a tough time period," said the downtrodden 28-year-old, "but I also believe that it has to end sometime and I have to do what it takes."
 
Yet even with the contract protection that includes the inability of the Red Sox to trade the hurler or send him to the minors without Matsuzaka's permission, along with a year under his belt that included a fourth-place finish in the Cy Young voting, the pitcher might be in store for another career first.
 
Matsuzaka might just have to be on the outside looking in at the rest of a starting rotation, at least until that elusive solution can be uncovered.
 
"If I keep going like this," he said, "I have no right to be part of this rotation."
 
Red Sox manager Terry Francona said no snap decisions were going to be made following his team's loss, although the situation will surely be analyzed at length as John Smoltz' Thursday start draws closer, with the decision-making process seemingly already in motion as pitching coach John Farrell sat in Francona's office into the night, reflecting on the evening's outcome.
 
"Never after the game -- we never do," said Francona of making a decision regarding Matsuzaka's short-term fate. "I think you make some poor decisions. We got an off-day Monday. We'll certainly sit down -- we have the ability to be a little flexible in what we do going forward. Saying that, don't know if it makes a lot of sense to do something before the off-day. We'll see where we line up after that."
 
It is no great leap of faith to say that Matsuzaka has never experienced anything like this in his baseball-playing career. Not only did the results look entirely different from even that spring training game in Orlando against the Braves back in March -- when optimism ran high thanks to the pitcher's performance in his first game back from the World Baseball Classic -- but so did Matsuzaka's body language.
 
With the Braves jumping on Matsuzaka's fastballs early in the count, the Sox' starter appeared perhaps more unsure of himself than at anytime during his stint in the United States.
 
Of course it didn't help that Matsuzaka kicked off the game with the McLouth homer, a Yunel Escobar single, a Chipper Jones double, a walk to Brian McCann, and a run-scoring free pass to Garret Anderson. The hurler did get out of the first inning, no-out, bases-loaded jam thanks to a Matt Diaz strikeout and Casey Kotchman double play, but the confidence still wasn't there.
 
That first inning went a long way in painting the picture regarding how different this year is compared to last for Matsuzaka. Remember last year, when he allowed just one walk and one hit batsman, and no hits, in 16 plate appearances with the bases loaded? This was just the second time he faced a bases-full scenario, and he gave up the run right off the bat.
 
And how about those first-inning woes? This season hitters came into Friday night already claiming a .355 in the initial frame against Matsuzaka, compared to the .208 clip of a year ago.
 
"I felt I had to do whatever it took to get out that situation," Matsuzaka said. "After I came out of the game I checked myself out on the video and what I saw was completely different from what I actually thought I was doing so I was quite disappointed."
 
The constant analysis, coupled with the results, have seemingly paved the way to a dramatically different kind of picture than the one Matsuzaka had been identified with heading into this season.
 
"I'm sure it's tough for anybody," said Francona after watching Matsuzaka leave the mound without a quality start for the eighth time in as many tries. "It looked like he was out there early and it looked like he wasn't as confident as we've seen him. I agree with that. It's not a lack of trying. He wants to pitch and we know that. Just got to keep fighting. This is a guy that has won a lot of games for us. It's a lot of wins. We need to try to figure it out and do better."