"He's got as good of stuff as anybody in the league," Sox manager Terry Francona said of Harden, who is 3-0. "He gets into some fastball counts and he doesn't give you a fastball. We've seen him too much. We don't need to face him every other game. I hope he's not going to come back and pitch Sunday."
After retiring the first 10 batters, five by strikeout, Harden allowed his first hit, a home run to Dustin Pedroia. Problematic? Not with the A's scoring seven runs over the first three innings off Wakefield, five coming on home runs by Frank Thomas and Mark Ellis.
But those weren't the only fireworks. Sox hitting coach Dave Magadan got tossed with J.D. Drew at bat in the sixth inning, with plate umpire Tim Tschida repeating, "He knows better than that," to Francona, who came out to get an explanation.
Drew had wanted to get additional pine tar for his bat, but was not allowed to leave the batter's box, part of a new directive to speed up games that went into effect this week. Magadan objected, and soon was thrown out of the game.
By that time, the Sox were down by five runs, having scored on Pedroia's solo shot, and when Jacoby Ellsbury singled home Drew, who had doubled, in the fifth. That was more than the Sox had gotten off Harden in two previous games this season, but still not enough to make a dent. Oakland lost in Harden's second start against the Sox, then he landed on the disabled list for more than a month with a strained pitching shoulder. Harden entered last night 1-0 with a 0.82 ERA against Boston this season.
Harden's two runs allowed on four hits with eight strikeouts in six innings was far better than Wakefield's performance.
He had dazzled the Tigers just three starts ago, combining with Mike Timlin on a shutout of what was supposed to be the American League's premier offense. But it didn't last.
Wakefield was hit around in his next start, his shortest since 2003, allowing seven runs (six earned) in 2 2/3 innings against Minnesota. And, though it got better against Milwaukee, it got worse last night. In a hurry.
