Dash will begin playoffs vs. Sox

The Winston-Salem Dash evolved through the season, but the formula it followed was nothing new.

The Dash started as a power-hitting team that could also hit for average but became a team anchored by good pitching and solid defense. Manager Joe McEwing says that the second combination might better serve his team in the Carolina League playoffs, which will start tonight.

The Dash, the first-half champion in the CL's Southern Division, will play the Salem Red Sox in a best-of-five first-round series, with the first two games scheduled for Wake Forest Baseball Park at 7 p.m. today and 7 p.m. Thursday.

"As a whole, you preach the fundamentals of pitching and defense because that's going to win the most ballgames," said first-year manager McEwing, the CL manager of the year. "Throughout the course of the season, without pitching and defense, you aren't going to win too many ballgames, and that's at every level.

"In the playoffs, it's about pitching and defense."

McEwing will send lefty Justin Edwards (6-2) to the mound tonight against Daisuke Matsuzaka, who will be making a rehab start for the parent Boston Red Sox.

Matsuzaka, known as "Dice K," has battled injuries all season and is 1-5 with an 8.25 earned-run average in the majors. He has an $8-million contract for this season but hasn't pitched for Boston since June 19. And although it's against Carolina League rules to add other minor-leaguers for the playoffs, major-leaguers can play if they're on a rehabilitation assignment.

"It's something we will continue to do, and that's rise to the challenge," McEwing said. "This team is a team that grinds it out every single day, and they'll be ready for the challenge."

Edwards suggested that the Dash's offense would be extra motivated to face Matsuzaka.

"It's just another game, and it's an opportunity to try and beat him," Edwards said. "I think it gives our offense more motivation to go out there and put some good swings on him and try to score some runs."

Edwards (4.23 ERA) has made 14 starts for the Dash since being promoted June 18 and says that part of the team's success comes from good chemistry.

"In my four years in the organization, I think this team has the best chemistry I've played with," Edwards said. "I think Joe has a lot to do with that. He's the best manager I've ever played for, and I think a lot of the guys feel the same way."

One of the Dash's strengths has been infield defense, with All-Star Brent Morel at third base, Greg Paiml at shortstop and Dale Mollenhauer at second.

"You can be the most talented team and not have chemistry and lose," McEwing said, referring to all the roster shuffling within an organization. "These guys pull for each other, and that's the meaning of a true team."

McEwing also has been able to sense when his team might be running on empty. The team returned home from Myrtle Beach at 3:30 a.m. yesterday and had a practice scheduled for 11 a.m., but when the players arrived, McEwing called it off.

"We haven't played very well coming off the off days," McEwing said. "So I wanted to get them out here and get the blood flowing, but with the road trip and everything, we'll just have a quick meeting, and they can enjoy the rest of the day."

McEwing said he has been pleased with how his team has developed through the season, especially in light of low attendance and construction delays at the new downtown ballpark.

"I'm proud of every one of those guys in the locker room, with all the adversity we've been through they never complained once and went about their business in a professional way," he said.

Developing players is the main purpose of the minor leagues, but not the only one for McEwing and others. "I always thought that if you don't win everything," McEwing said, "it's a disappointment."

■ John Dell can be reached at 727-4081 or at jdell@wsjournal.com.