Pardon Rockies if they seem mopey; they can't deal with Oki-Doke

As long as their $103 million investment, Matsuzaka, had someone to share meals with and talk to, that was the important thing.

Then something wholly unexpected happened. You know how every World Series winner needs a little magic and a little serendipity sprinkled into the cracks of the talent? Well, after surrendering a homer on the very first pitch he threw in the majors, to Kansas City's John Buck, Okajima went out and tossed 20 2/3 scoreless innings over his next 20 appearances. He was named American League Rookie of the Month in April, was selected to the AL All-Star team in July and, as the Rockies can attest, hasn't stopped since.

"When I was in Japan, I noticed that he threw the straight (fastball) and curve and I didn't notice a changeup," shortstop Kaz Matsui said. "Now he's throwing the changeup with the same motion as his fastball."

Yes, it's the pitch that has taken Boston by storm this summer and led to unpredicted success for Okajima. It's a split-fastball/changeup hybrid, and it has become such the rage that there's a name for it.

The, um ... you got it.

Oki-Doke.

Okajima relieved Schilling with Rockies on first and second and one out in the sixth. First up, he induced a ground ball to first from Garrett Atkins, moving the runners over and bringing on the most tense time of the game for the Red Sox.

Then he blew the splitter past Brad Hawpe to end the inning.

After a 1-2-3 seventh, Okajima was simply devastating to start the eighth, catching Willy Taveras napping on a slider for a called strike three and then making Matsui look like a novice while swinging through the Oki-Doke for strike three.

"I had a pitch to hit," said Colorado shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, who popped to right field to start the seventh. "But I'm sure a lot of the guys are saying the same thing. They got pitches to hit and they were going back to the dugout.

"He has good command of the fastball, good command of the changeup, and he has an awkward motion that throws you off a little."

Said designated hitter Ryan Spilborghs, who, as Hall of Fame broadcaster Ernie Harwell used to say, stood there like the house by the side of the road as strike three sailed past to end the seventh: "Those guys don't throw anything down the middle of the plate. They make us work."

Spilborghs was discussing both Okajima and starter Curt Schilling, and he obviously was using the word "work" loosely. Colorado's DH fanned three times, all looking.

"This is our first viewing of him," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said of Okajima. "We've watched a lot of tape of him. We watched him pitch, obviously, most recently against Cleveland.

"He's very effective. He can speed you up, slow you down, he throws strikes, he's got some deception."

He's the quiet one, when he's not pitching like an All-Star. Francona noted that earlier this season, in comparison to Matsuzaka, Okajima simply did his job, only the more he did it, the less obscure he became. He compiled a 2.22 ERA in 69 innings (66 games) for the Red Sox this season, going 3-2 with five saves in 66 appearances.

Boston might have ridden him a little too hard. He hadn't pitched 69 innings since he worked 72 1/3 for Yomiuri in Japan in 2000, and he had never reached 66 games in 11 seasons there. In those 11 seasons, he totaled 41 saves -- 25 of them coming in 2001.

In September, the Red Sox did a wise thing in shutting him down for 10 days or so, because they sensed they were wearing him out.

"It did help," he said via a translator following Game 2. "Mentally I was able to rest. So for the postseason and the World Series, I was able to refresh my mind."

Catcher Jason Varitek's view of the shutdown: "He wasn't locating the ball well, and he had that one bad game where he left one changeup up and a good hitter, (Toronto's) Vernon Wells, hit a home run. I don't think his stuff's changed."

In Japan, Okajima's out pitch was the old-style 12-to-6 curveball. Now he has an added weapon, the split-change, and he's brimming with chutzpah. Of his 28 pitches Thursday night, 20 were strikes.

"Last year I pitched in the Japanese World Series and I have some experience in a big stage like this, so I was confident out there," Okajima said.

Confident is one word. Brilliant, clutch and dominant are others that would properly describe the bridge he provided from Schilling to closer Jonathan Papelbon.

How good was Okajima in Game 2?

"Very, very, very good," Varitek said. "And very needed."