Boston 1
Oakland 5

Rich Harden and the Oakland A’s bullpen treated the Boston Red Sox hitters like a disobedient child today: handcuffing them to the radiator and beating them mercilessly for 3 hours.

Oakland pitchers recorded 13 strikeouts and held the Sox to only 5 hits. The big offensive blast of the game was a 3-run shot by Emil Brown in the 3rd inning, but the story of this game is Harden, a guy who might be the best pitcher in the American League when healthy.

I managed to catch the first 4 innings of this game before leaving for work, and the sensation was akin to enduring waterboarding in Guantanamo Bay. I kicked, I screamed, I struggled, but in the end, my cries of despair were stifled by a cascade of cold reality: The Red Sox will actually lose some games this year.

This is what it feels like. Now I remember.

Notes:

• Jacoby Ellsbury’s day off was scheduled, it is not a function of his wall collision last night.
• The game was finished off by the familiar duo of Keith Foulke and Alan Embree, who combined for 2 scoreless innings. Foulke especially looked impressive, perhaps angry that I trashed him yesterday. Yes, I’m sure that’s it.
• David Aardsma was impressive, pitching 1.2 scoreless and striking out 3. Kyle Snyder might consider polishing up his resume.
• Manny Ramirez continues to stay hot, hitting a mammoth blast off of Harden in the 6th inning. Manny had 8 total bases on 3 extra base hits on the 2-game trip.
• Julio Lugo enjoyed his trip to Japan, going 3-6 with a walk and a run scored. If only all of his at-bats could occur on turf…