TORONTO — For the first time in almost five years, two Japanese-born pitchers will face one another in a major-league game when Daisuke Matsuzaka opposes Toronto’s Tomo Ohka tonight at Rogers Centre.

But it’s not the history that intrigues the Sox.

Instead, they want to see if some of the adjustments Matsuzaka has been making between starts translate into more consistency on the mound.

Fifteen of the 23 runs the rookie has allowed this season have come in just six innings. When Matsuzaka gets into trouble, the big innings have snowballed on him.

To address that, pitching coach John Farrell and Matsuzaka have been working to improve the pitcher’s mechanics pitching out the stretch.

“There have been some times,” said manager Terry Francona, “with men on base, that he’s been too quick to the plate. When that happens, he loses the strike zone because there’s been a little inconsistency with his release point.”

According to Francona, the Sox want to correct Matsuzaka’s “tempo.”

Tonight will be Matsuzaka’s second look at the Blue Jays. He pitched well in defeat on April 17, losing by 2-1. He walked three in the fourth inning, contributing to the only two runs against him.

Only the fourth time

Tonight’s matchup will represent just the fourth time in baseball history that two Japanese-born pitchers have started the same game.

Ohka, the former Red Sox pitcher, was one of two the last time two Japanese pitchers faced one another. Ohka was the winning pitcher for Montreal when he defeated Kansas City’s Mac Suzuki at Olympic Stadium in Montreal on June 19, 2002.

Suzuki, meanwhile, was part of the first two matchups, too. On May 7, 1999, he made history while pitching for Seattle when he opposed the Yankees’ Hideki Irabu. Irabu was the winning pitcher, while Suzuki was tagged with the loss.

On July 2, 2000, Suzuki was the tough-luck loser to Hideo Nomo, then with Detroit. The Tigers won, 2-0.

Youkilis day-to-day

Just two days after being hit in the left quad in Minnesota, first baseman Kevin Youkilis was hit again in nearly the same spot last night in the sixth inning by Toronto pitcher Casey Jansen and left the game.

He was diagnosed with a left leg contusion and is considered day-to-day.

Youkilis was replaced by Eric Hinske at first base. Both benches were warned by home plate umpire Brian Gorman, but nothing else transpired between the teams.

It was the fifth time in 31 games that Youkilis has been hit by a pitch. It’s unlikely, however, that Youkilis will make a run at the club record. That’s held by Don Baylor, who was plunked 35 times in 1986. That mark still stands as the single-season record in the American League.

Still, Youkilis is less than pleased by the trend.

“I don’t know if it was intentional,” he said. “Who knows? But it gets old after a while.”

It’s Lowell time

Mike Lowell continued his torrid hitting against the Blue Jays this season.

Lowell cracked a long thee-run homer to left in the third inning, giving him three homers against the Jays in five games this season.

Since joining the Sox at the start of last season, Lowell is hitting .361 (26-for-72) with 11 doubles, four homers, 17 RBI and 11 runs scored in 19 games. For his career, Lowell is hitting .368 (46-for-125) with eight homers and 29 RBI in 33 games against Toronto. That’s the highest career batting average against the Jays among players with 100 at-bats or more. Texas Michael Young (.363) is next.

Around the bases

The win was Francona’s 300th as manager of the Red Sox. He’s the 10th manager in franchise history to reach that mark and the first since Jimy Williams. … Jon Lester played catch yesterday afternoon and will so again today before being cleared to extend his throwing program to long toss, and soon a bullpen session off the mound. . … The roof was open for just second time this season at Rogers Centre. Rain is forecast for tonight and tomorrow, which may not be a bad thing for the Sox. Boston would like the roof closed tomorrow night for the series finale since Tim Wakefield is traditionally very effective in domed stadiums. … Two of the three homers in Dustin Pedroia’s brief major-league career have come at Rogers Centre.

smcadam@projo.com