YOKOHAMA -- Pitching a professional baseball game in Yokohama Stadium has always been Daisuke Matsuzaka's dream. It came true on Sunday night during Game 2 of the 2001 Sanyo All-Star Series. By the third inning, however, it turned into a nightmare.
Matsuzaka surrendered six earned runs, nine hits and two walks over one-plus innings as the Central League All-Stars clobbered their Pacific League counterparts 12-6 at Yokohama Stadium. The three-game series is now tied 1-1 and heads to the Sapporo Dome on Tuesday night.
Matsuzaka, a Yokohama native who desperately wanted to play for the BayStars when he graduated high school three years ago, was tagged with the loss. The Seibu Lions ace looked pathetic from the minute he stepped on the hill. The CL's big guns didn't make his evening any easier.