enlarge The Associated Press

Daisuke Matsuzaka makes a rehab start Sunday with the Sea Dogs and gives up five runs in the first inning in a 5-3 loss to New Hampshire.

enlarge The Associated Press

Daisuke Matsuzaka settled down after a rocky first inning and retired the Fisher Cats in order on nine pitches in the second. The Sea Dogs never recovered from a 5-1 deficit and lost 5-3, then the Cats finished a sweep with a 4-2 win.

TODAY'S GAME

WHO: Sea Dogs (Ryne Miller 2-2) at New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Nate Starner 1-1)

WHEN: 7:05 p.m.

OF NOTE: The Sea Dogs are five games behind New Britain for a playoff spot with eight games left

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Daisuke Matsuzaka had a nice, clean second inning Sunday in a rehab start for the Portland Sea Dogs.

His first inning? Not so good.

Matsuzaka struggled in the first with both his control and Fisher Cat hitters, but he bounced back the next inning and later called the day a success.

That 1-2-3 second inning was one of the few bright spots for the Sea Dogs as they got swept by New Hampshire 5-3 and 4-2 and slipped further from an Eastern League playoff spot.

The Sea Dogs (62-71) lost their fourth straight game at New Hampshire and fell five games behind second-place New Britain (67-66) in the race for a playoff berth in the Northern Division.

Allotted no more than 60 pitches for the day, Matsuzaka used up 49 in a tedious, 22-minute first inning.

"I didn't think I'd get hit that badly," Matsuzaka said through an interpreter. "When I came off the mound in the first inning, I was told that was it.

"I told them I'd like to get my work done. They gave me 10 pitches to go back out there. Luckily, I got it done in nine."

It was all quite simple, said Portland Manager Arnie Beyeler.

"He didn't throw a lot of strikes and when he did, they hit it," Beyeler said. "He was behind in the count and when he threw a fastball over the plate, they hit it."

Perhaps Matsuzaka's second warm-up pitch was an omen: It was high and wide and hit the backstop. Matsuzaka grinned after that one, but he didn't smile again for a while.

Todd Donovan ripped the third pitch from Matsuzaka into the left-field stands. Before the inning was over, the Fisher Cats sent 10 batters to the plate, collected four hits and took advantage of three walks to build a 5-1 lead.

Given another chance in the second inning, Matsuzaka put away the Fisher Cats on a fly ball to left, a strikeout and a pop fly to the shortstop.

He threw nine pitches in the inning, eight of them strikes. For the game, 32 of his 58 pitches were strikes.

Matsuzaka said he threw his fastball and slider and got more aggressive in the second. He struck out Brad Emaus on a pitch that registered 96 mph on the stadium's radar gun.

"I've been a little conservative," he said. "In the second inning today, I was able to get my arm around really hard. I feel that was a very positive step for me.

"I feel that in my next start I'll be able to do that right from the beginning of the game."

Matsuzaka is scheduled to start for Triple-A Pawtucket on Friday. He said he doesn't know what comes next.

"In the end, it's the manager and coaches who are going to decide when I'll be coming back (to Boston)," he said. "My next scheduled rehab start is supposed to be my last, so I just hope I can pitch in a way that gives them confidence."

A TWO-RUN homer by Juan Apodaca cut New Hampshire's lead to 5-3 in the fourth inning of the first game, but the Sea Dogs got no closer. The Fisher Cats led 4-0 in the sixth inning of Game 2 before Ryan Khoury delivered a two-run double for the Sea Dogs.