That kind of accomplishment must be heady territory for a single pitcher representing an entire nation of baseball-crazed onlookers, but Matsuzaka brushed off any accolades associated with his increasingly gaudy win total.

"I don't think that just reaching the number in and of itself has that much meaning," said Matsuzaka through translator Masa Hoshino. "(The 16 wins) aren't something I'm particularly conscious about."

The right-hander seems to instead be particularly conscious of another World Series Championship, and has been dominant against the iron of the American League.

In five starts this season against the likely AL playoff teams (the Rays, Twins, White Sox and Angels), Matsuzaka is 3-1 with a 2.21 ERA and has been at his very best mixing sliders, changeups and his sneaky-quick fastball against potential playoff foes.

While it hasn't always been pretty watching Matsuzaka's inefficiency and high pitch counts litter his otherwise breakthrough season, a 16-2 record and a 2.82 ERA simply can't be disputed.

"He seems to have a lot left, which is good news," said Sox manager Terry Francona. "He looks strong."

RED SOX 8, WHITE SOX 0: RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka notched his 16th win of the season with eight innings of efficient, overpowering shutout ball Friday and fanned seven White Sox hitters along the way. 2B Dustin Pedroia led the offense with four hits and scored three runs while both OF Jason Bay and 1B Kevin Youkilis collected three RBIs in the blowout victory.