hits in seven innings, struck out eight and walked none, sending Lance Ly

NEW YORK -- Daisuke Matsuzaka pinched his eyelids, clenched his teeth and thought back. He couldnt remember all the details of the first save of his professional career. After 123 starts during seven seasons in Major League Baseball, the 33-year-old right-hander was turned into a reliever by the New York Mets when they brought him up from the minor leagues on April 16. Eight days later, manager Terry Collins took a chance -- a roll of the Dice-K? -- and Matsuzaka responded with a perfect ninth inning Thursday to cap a 4-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. He hadnt saved a game since May 2000, his second season with the Seibu Lions of Japans Pacific League, when he struck out four during the final three innings of a 9-0 win at the Chiba Lotte Marines. "Its definitely different," he said through a translator, "but I think Im starting to get used to going from the bullpen." Chris Young homered to start New Yorks comeback from a 1-0, fifth-inning deficit, slumping Curtis Granderson singled in a run as a pinch hitter and Daniel Murphy drove in two runs. Bartolo Colon (2-3) allowed four hits in seven innings, struck out eight and walked none, sending Lance Lynn to his first career loss in April. Matsuzaka, who completed a four-pitcher, four-hitter, was a rookie of the year in Japan in 1999, MVP as his national team won the first World Baseball Classic in 2006 and was given a $52 million, six-year contract by the Boston Red Sox after they paid Seibu $51,111,111.11 for his rights. Matsuzaka went 15-12 in his first season with the Red Sox and 18-3 in his second, but he injured a hip during the 2009 WBC and was never the same, hurting his arm and eventually needing elbow ligament-replacement surgery. He was just 50-37 for the Red Sox and signed a minor league contract in February 2013 with Cleveland, which released him in August. Then he joined the Mets, started seven games and signed a minor league deal with New York, which initially sent him to Triple-A Las Vegas this spring. But when Bobby Parnells season ended with a torn elbow ligament on opening day, the Mets had to scramble to restock their bullpen. Jose Valverde struggled as the closer and Kyle Farnsworth took over the role. Manager Terry Collins wanted to give the 38-year-old Farnsworth a rest after three appearances in four days. "I just said this is a good opportunity to see how Dice handles it," Collins explained, "and he did well." In a 15-pitch outing, Matsuzaka retired Allen Craig on a lineout to right after falling behind 3-1, struck out Daniel Descalso in an eight-pitch at-bat and got Peter Bourjos on a game-ending foulout to the catcher. "Before, I never really thought I would be able to pitch out of the bullpen because I just take so long to prepare," Matsuzaka said. "I think I just have to keep pitching well to gain full confidence from the team, but I think having had a few opportunities in tight situations definitely is encouraging." Collins said Farnsworth, who has two saves, remains his first-choice closer but Matsuzuka may receive more ninth-inning opportunities. His preparation, which includes lengthy stretching, will have to change. "If hes going to pitch the back end of the game, be it the eighth, the ninth, somewhere in there," the manager said, "I dont want him to wear himself out in the fifth inning, at 8:15. I want him to kind of save something." Dice-K said its as much mental as physical. "Just to comfort myself, I think I throw more than I probably have to," he said. New York also gave 40-year-old right fielder Bobby Abreu hit first big league start since July 25, 2012. Abreu went 1 for 3 with an opposite-field double to left in the fifth -- his first hit with the Mets. "Its been a long time," he said. "It was kind of exciting. At first I had to calm down my emotions and just go out there and play the game." New York took three of four from the defending NL champions and has won four of five overall. St. Louis lost for the sixth time in nine games and has gone 291 at-bats without a home run since Allen Craig connected at Milwaukee off Wily Peralta on April 16. Lynn (4-1) had been 12-0 through April in his big league career, including one March victory. But given a fifth-inning lead, he allowed the Mets to tie the score in the bottom half and go ahead 2-1 on Murphys RBI double in the sixth, a ball that dropped just in front of diving centerfielder Jon Jay. Lynn was chased in a two-run seventh after Eric Young Jr. bunted and reached on a two-base error when the pitcher threw off first baseman Matt Adams glove and into right field. Granderson had been 2 for 20 against left-handers this year before he greeted Kevin Siegrist with an RBI single, and Murphy singled in the final run. "Weve been home six days in the past 2 1/2 months," Lynn said. "I think a lot of people are looking forward to getting home and sleeping in their own beds." NOTES: With hitters on both teams complaining about plate umpire Alan Porters wide strike zone on a blustery afternoon, New York batters struck out 10 times, raising their total to 213 and passing Miami (203) for the major league lead. ... Zack Wheeler (1-2) starts Fridays series opener at home against Miamis Henderson Alvarez (1-2). Cheap NBA Jerseys China . Therrien would not confirm his lineup for the game, but he did have the same line combinations practicing together for the third straight day which is usually a pretty good indication of what the lineup will be. Cheap NFL jerseys China . -- Jonas Hiller is cautiously confident he has kicked his vertigo. http://www.wholesalechinajerseys.net/. -- Two-time AL Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana agreed Tuesday to a minor league contract with the Baltimore Orioles as he tries to come back from the second major operation on his left shoulder. Wholesale Basketball Jerseys Authentic . - Kyle Wood and Barclay Goodrow scored second period power-play goals to provide all of the scoring for the North Bay Battalion in a 2-0 victory over the Erie Otters in Ontario Hockey League action on Thursday. Authentic Cheap Jerseys . "I only want to go through this one more time," Crosby said Friday. The 24-year-old captain hasnt played since the symptoms resurfaced following a loss to Boston on Dec. 5. Doctors allowed him to return to full practice on Tuesday and while Crosby is pleased with the way his body is responding he refuses to put on his return.NEW YORK, N.Y. - The NFLs salary cap for this season has been set at $133 million, the highest amount in league history. Each team must be compliant with the cap number by March 11, when the leagues free agency period begins. The cap amount announced Friday, which applies to active players salaries, is up from $123 million last season and surpasses the previous high of $127,997,000 in 2009. NFL teams can carry over unused salary cap room from the previous league year, and the NFLPA says in a release Friday that the average carryover for those teams that elected to do so was $6.dddddddddddd.1 million. The leagues salary cap is calculated by taking a percentage of all projected NFL revenues, subtracting projected benefits for the season, and dividing by 32 teams. ' ' '