Less than 24 hours till the big show

The Japan trip seems to be working in the Sox favor, as they won both exhibition games (they defeated the Yomiuri Giants 9-2 yesterday) and will be playing for a mostly pro-Red Sox crowd tomorrow. Japanese reporters have been all over pitching star Matsuzaka -- no interview has slipped by without a question about the Japan-native.

Although Okajima played for Yomiuri for nine seasons, he had no problem pitching a scoreless seventh inning.

After the series against the A's, the Sox will head to Los Angeles for 3 exhibition games against the Angels, although I'm not sure why. It seems like a waste to play exhibition games once the season has already started. Hopefully the Sox won't be too tired when they return to Fenway on April 8th to receive their championship rings.

Bull Pen Update: Josh Beckett threw 35 pitches and faced 7 batters against the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs on Sunday, which is a HUGE relief. With Schilling out for the season (in my opinion), the Sox would definitely take a hit if they lost Beckett, too. I can safely say Sox fans everywhere would be pretty bummed not to see him on the mount, especially since he went 20-7 last season. He'll officially come off the DL on April 3.

There's also a possibility that Timlin might on the DL, but that won't be evaluated until the team plays in LA, so I don't want to jinx anything.

Tomorrow's Line-up:

1) Dustin Pedroia 2B
2) Kevin Youkilis 1B
3) David Ortiz DH
4) Manny Rameriz LF
5) Mike Lowell 3B
6) JD Drew LF
7) Jason Varitek C
8) Jacoby Ellsbury CF
9) Julio Lugo SS

You'll notice it's the same line-up Francona used for the 2nd exhibition game against the Giants.