“Everybody knows I haven’t been performing well,” Matsuzaka said, through his interpreter, “and as a professional, I have to accept it when I get a reaction like that.”

Matsuzaka was battered by the Braves, who opened the three game series with an 8 2 victory over the Red Sox on Friday night, battered to the brink of losing his spot in the rotation. Still, he stood up tall in the interview room.

Matsuzaka’s countryman, Kenshin Kawakami, 33, held the Red Sox to two hits in six innings, and three Braves relievers struck out six of the last nine batters. The Yankees, who won in Florida, moved two games behind the AL East leading Red Sox (40 27).

Jason Bay had a double and a two run homer for the Red Sox’s only hits.

The Red Sox were not ready to make, or at least divulge a Air Jordan 6 Rings decision on where to go next with Dice K, who cost them more than $100 million to bring over from Japan two years ago. Will he go to the bullpen or the minor leagues when John Smoltz Air Jordan 2011 is activated next week? Or will the Red Sox go to a six man rotation?

The 1 5 record, 8.32 ERA and the .359 average opponents have against him at Fenway point to something happening.

“We’ll sit down on Monday,” Francona said. “We have the ability to be a little flexible in what we do going forward. He’s got to keep fighting it. This is a guy who has won a lot of games for us, even if they weren’t the way you draw them up. It’s a Air Jordan 23s lot of wins.”

Matsuzaka, 28, won 33 games in his first two seasons, but still confounded the organization with his nibbling at the corners, an approach that worked well for him in Japan. In the majors, more selective hitters usually worked him out of games after five innings but generally he was effective.

This season, Matsuzaka’s preparation was disrupted by the World Baseball Classic, and his arm strength was questioned and addressed with a stint on the disabled list. Still, his attempts to re invent himself to the Red Sox’s liking more aggressive and efficient have backfired, never more than Friday.

Nate McLouth hit his first pitch into the bullpen in right Nike LeBron 11 center, Yunel Escobar singled and Chipper Jones doubled.

Matsuzaka walked the next two to force in a run. Only a bit of luck, Casey Kotchman’s line shot going right to Kevin Youkilis and being turned into a double play, got him out of the inning.

“I’ve had tough moments,” Matsuzaka said, “but each time I thought out and tried different ways to get through it. This time, I feel it’s taking way too much time to break through, so now might be the time where I need to reach out for some advice, for some help.”

Pitching coach John Farrell said Dice K has never been “closed off.”

“He’s not unlike our other pitchers,” Farrell said. “When things aren’t going Air Jordan 5s well, he’s more receptive to the feedback we give him. All our work has been geared toward throwing strikes with his fastball down in the zone. We saw him throw a lot of fastballs over the middle of the plate.”