Harden rules Red Sox

A day after Manny Ramirez saved the day for the Red Sox in an exhilarating 10-inning win, the Oakland A's Rich Harden took the mound against the "softball" Boston lineup. Harden, who had been limited to only seven appearances last year because of right arm issues, came out firing--literally--and the A's beat the Red Sox 5-1, splitting the opening game series at the Tokyo Dome.

Harden looked sensational and made the Red Sox look dumb--Ramirez K'd twice against him, and it wasn't even until the fourth inning when Mike Lowell got a single to get the Red Sox on the board hit-wise. Harden pitched a total of six innings--solid work for the early season--and had a total of nine strikeouts and three walks. Red Sox Terry Francona was impressed with Harden's fastball and his ability to keep the hitters guessing with some crafty offspeed pitches at different times in the count.

The A's are certainly a team that no one really expects to be superb--they are one of those "middle tier" teams that "could" be a contender--if they get a few breaks here and there and stay healthy. They are a young team and Harden will be looked at as a leader--which he certainly showed his first time out. Considering they really should have won that first game against the Red Sox and this game, perhaps we've underestimated the A's and overestimated the Red Sox.

Or maybe it makes no difference considering they were both playing in games that were thousands of miles from home. I think that's a better guess.

Picture Source: AP

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