His 104th pitch was his final one, a 92-mile per hour fastball Kelly Shoppach swung at, ending Daisuke Matsuzaka's night, and his turbulent regular season.

Matsuzaka gave up two runs and five hits in six innings. He won his fourth game -- a far departure from his 18 wins last year -- and ended his regular season with some sort of redemption. He may not be perfect, and he may still frustrate at times, but he is far better than the pitcher who left the team in June to go on the disabled list.

"He continues to look like he's getting stronger, or building instead of going the other way," said manager Terry Francona, "which is a very good trend."

While Matsuzaka probably hasn't won back the complete confidence of his bosses, he's pitched admirably, going 3-1 with a 2.22 ERA in his four starts since coming off the disabled list on Sept. 15. Since he's come back, he's had the lowest opponents' batting average against amongst the Red Sox starters at .237 and his .674 opponents' OPS is also tops.

In particular, Matsuzaka was pleased with his ability to throw the slider.

"Aside from my fastball, my slider is my most important pitch," he said. "I had a good feel for [it]."

Matsuzaka's role in the postseason is unknown. There is a chance he will not start a game in the first series against Anaheim. Even if he doesn't, both he and the team seemed pleased with his transition back to the big leagues.

"From the time I came back to the point that we clinched our playoff spot, I wanted to do my best to contribute," Matsuzaka said. "But during the whole time that I was on the DL I trained with October in mind."

Quick hits
Rocco Baldelli, who left the game with a strained hip flexor, had already left by the time the game ended, so it's unknown just how he feels. But Francona said the team has to closely monitor Baldelli because of his health history and his muscle fatigue disorder. "It is a concern," Francona said. He added that Baldelli did have a pretty good range of motion and no weakness ... Billy Wagner pitched in consecutive outings for the first time this year, striking out both batters he faced before being lifted. "This was, I think, just a peace of mind," Wagner said about showing the team he can pitch on back-to-back days ... Matsuzaka got out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth inning, running his streak without allowing a hit in those situations to 23 straight at-bats&Victor Martinez now has a 28-game hitting streak in games he's started. That eclipses Ichiro Suzuki's mark of 27, which was the best in the AL this year ... Erin Woodward gave birth to Grady McLean Woodward at 9:35 p.m. on Thursday night. Chris will return to the team on Saturday.

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