Japan celebrates Matsuzaka’s series win

Matsuzaka became the first Japanese pitcher to open a World Series game, smacking the first hit of his U.S. career to left field as part of a six-run third inning for the Red Sox on his way to earning the victory.

The Red Sox took a 3-0 lead in Major League Baseball’s best-of-seven final.

“Matsuzaka sweeps his first victory in World Series; Red Sox checkmates,” ran a headline on the web edition of the Sports Nippon tabloid.

“Matsuzaka, well done for pitching, batting,” read another headline on the Sports Navi web site.

Matsuzaka, a 27-year-old right-hander, signed a six-year deal for 52 million dollars with the Red Sox after Boston paid the Seibu Lions 51.1 million dollars simply for the rights to negotiate with him.

Japanese baseball fans eagerly watched the game, viewed by many here as a battle between former Matsuzaka and his former Seibu Lions teammate, Colorado’s second baseman Kazuo Matsui.

Hiroshi Horikawa, 40, said he supported Matsui, who transferred to the Colorado Rockies last year after suffering frequent injuries with the New York Mets.

“It’s tough to play over there because you get easily cut off unless you produce fast results,” he said after checking on the game result at a Tokyo Internet cafe.

Horikawa expected the Red Sox to win through to the World Series championship. “They have already won the first three games,” he said.

After the game, Matsuzaka told Japan’s public broadcaster NHK the Rockies were a very strong team.

“I don’t think they have got this point just by luck,” he said. “I hope we can play well tomorrow too.”

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