Matsuzaka Fenway debut 'giant leap for Japanese baseball': paper

Boston Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka's debut Wednesday night at Fenway Park drew widespread media coverage in the United States as well on Thursday, with the local Boston Globe newspaper describing it as ''one small step for the Red Sox and Mariners -- one giant leap for Japanese baseball.''

The paper continued on to praise the Mariners' Felix Hernandez who carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning.

''The pre-game hype had centered around Matsuzaka's first appearance before the Fenway Park faithful and his matchup with Seattle leadoff man Ichiro Suzuki. But it was the 21-year-old Venezuelan Hernandez, dubbed 'King Felix' by his fans, who stole the show.''

Another local paper, the Boston Herald highlighted the internationalization of the Boston fan base.

''The cover of the Red Sox media guide this year features the flags of seven countries, including Japan. Never in their history have the Sox been such a diverse and multilingual lot. Do not miss this game for what it was, a portal into a new era in Red Sox history.''

Meanwhile, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer was somewhat cool about Matsuzaka's solid performance, saying ''About 350 members of the media showed up and saw Matsuzaka hold Ichiro hitless. That was all the celebrating that Boston fans could do.''

Sports channel ESPN played segments from Japanese television of the past matchups between the right-hander and Suzuki.

On Wednesday night, Matsuzaka dropped to his first major league loss against the Seattle Mariners in his home field debut.

Matsuzaka was solid, allowing three runs and eight hits in seven innings but saw his thunder stolen by Hernandez, who pitched a one-hitter over the distance in Seattle's 3-0 win over Boston at Fenway Park.