Rich Harden is Back

But will he stay healthy? The oft-injured A's right-hander dominated the Red Sox over 6 innings in the A's 5-1 win in Japan this morning. Harden struck out 9 and limited the Sox to 3 hits. Manny Ramirez belted a solo home run for the Sox only run. And of course Manny stood there for 20 minutes admiring it. We continue to wonder why no one puts Manny on his ass for this classlessness.

Jon Lester struggled with his control in 4 innings of work, allowing 4 runs. Emil Brown blasted a 3-run homer off of him in his 2nd game as a member of the A's. Chris Denorfia and Jeff Fiorentino added RBI singles.

The game also marked the return to the big leagues of ex-Red Sox hero Keith Foulke. Foulke, in his second stint with the A's, hadn't pitched in the majors since 2006.

MLB finally got something right too. They're reimbursing the A's for the monies lost by not playing the games in Oakland. The A's generally sell out when the Red Sox are in town.

Steve Phillips was doing the game with Gary Thorne and finally got something right. With the A's leading 5-1 in the 8th, Phillips stated "you or I might run here, but the A's don't run often."

For a team that struggles to score runs, abiding by the moneyball rules is absolutely absurd. If you can't score, you should hit and run, steal, whatever it takes. Billy Beane is a great talent evaluator, but his logic is just dumb.

Boston	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Pedroia, 2B	4	0	0	0	0	1	2	.250
Youkilis, 1B	3	0	0	0	1	0	0	.143
Ortiz, DH	3	0	0	0	1	1	3	.000
Ramirez, LF	4	1	1	1	0	3	2	.333
Lowell, 3B	4	0	2	0	0	0	0	.375
Moss, RF	3	0	0	0	0	3	1	.250
a-Casey, PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000
Varitek, C	4	0	0	0	0	3	1	.000
Crisp, CF	3	0	1	0	0	2	0	.333
Lugo, SS	2	0	1	0	1	0	1	.500
Totals	31	1	5	1	3	13	11
a-Grounded into a double play for Moss in the 9th.
BATTING 2B: Crisp (1, Casilla). HR: Ramirez (1, 6th inning off Harden, 0 on, 2 out). TB: Ramirez 4; Lowell 2; Crisp 2; Lugo. RBI: Ramirez (5). 2-out RBI: Ramirez. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Ortiz; Lugo; Ramirez. GIDP: Pedroia; Casey. Team LOB: 6. BASERUNNING SB: Lugo (1, 2nd base off Harden/Suzuki).

Oakland	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Buck, RF	5	0	0	0	0	1	5	.000
Ellis, 2B	3	1	0	0	1	1	0	.143
Barton, 1B	3	0	0	0	1	1	1	.000
Sweeney, M, DH	4	1	2	0	0	0	1	.500
Brown, E, LF	4	1	1	3	0	0	1	.250
Crosby, SS	4	1	1	0	0	1	0	.333
Hannahan, 3B	4	0	1	0	0	2	1	.375
Suzuki, C	3	1	2	0	1	0	1	.375
Denorfia, CF	2	0	1	1	0	1	0	.500
a-Cust, PH	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	.000
1-Fiorentino, PR-CF	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	1.000
Totals	33	5	9	5	4	7	10
a-Walked for Denorfia in the 6th. 1-Ran for Cust in the 6th.
BATTING 2B: Crosby (1, Lester), Suzuki 2 (2, Aardsma, Corey). HR: Brown, E (1, 3rd inning off Lester, 2 on, 1 out). TB: Sweeney, M 2; Brown, E 4; Crosby 2; Hannahan; Suzuki 4; Denorfia; Fiorentino. RBI: Denorfia (1), Brown, E 3 (4), Fiorentino (1). 2-out RBI: Denorfia; Fiorentino. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Buck 2. Team LOB: 8. FIELDING E: Crosby (1, fielding). DP: 2 (Crosby-Ellis-Barton, Ellis-Crosby-Barton).

Boston	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Lester (L, 0-1)	4.0	5	4	4	3	4	1	9.00
Aardsma	1.2	1	0	0	0	3	0	0.00
Lopez	0.1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0.00
Delcarmen	1.0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
Corey	1.0	2	1	1	0	0	0	4.50

Oakland	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Harden (W, 1-0)	6.0	3	1	1	3	9	1	1.50
Casilla (H, 1)	1.0	1	0	0	0	2	0	0.00
Foulke (H, 2)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.00
Embree	1.0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0.00

WP: Foulke.
Pitches-strikes: Lester 83-47, Aardsma 20-14, Lopez 10-4,
Delcarmen 18-11, Corey 14-12, Harden 95-60, Casilla 17-12,
Foulke 15-10, Embree 12-10.
Ground outs-fly outs: Lester 3-5, Aardsma 2-0, Lopez 0-1,
Delcarmen 2-1, Corey 1-2, Harden 3-6, Casilla 1-0, Foulke 0-2, Embree 2-0.
Batters faced: Lester 20, Aardsma 6, Lopez 2, Delcarmen 4,
Corey 5, Harden 23, Casilla 4, Foulke 4, Embree 3.
Inherited runners-scored: Lopez 1-0.
Umpires: HP: Hunter Wendelstedt. 1B: Tim Timmons. 2B: Paul Nauert. 3B: Rick Reed.
Weather: 68 degrees, dome.
Wind: Indoors.
T: 2:51.
Att: 44,735.