Oakland Jumps Wakefield's Bones...A's 8 Red Sox 3

For the second time in his last three starts, Tim Wakefield allowed seven runs in a game, and the Red Sox seven game winning streak is now merely a part of history. Oakland defeated Boston 8-3 and handed Timmy his third loss of the year. His record is even at 3-3, but he has only had one standout start, an eight inning beauty. It didn't take long for the A's to take command, scoring three runs in the first and four runs in the third. And with Rich Harden on the hill for the home team, there was no way to come back from such a deficit. Terry Francona had this to say...

"His stuff is as good 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."

Peter here, and yes, Harden is THAT good, at least when he pitches against us, and NO, he will not be pitching on Sunday. His record stands at 3-0, which is not surprising. Wakes had this to say about his aborted and too short outing...

"I actually felt good in the bullpen and one pitch to Thomas, you know the history there," Wakefield said. "The one I didn't expect was Ellis. I thought I threw a good pitch to Ellis and he hits another homer. It put us in a hole.
"I think my mechanics are a little off right now. It was a grind after the first inning, knowing I'm down 3-0 and trying to stay in the game as long as possible. I wasn't as consistent as I'd like to be."

Peter again, and Timmy, it doesn't count in the bullpen. But we all know that he could get hot and run off five or six wins in a row. He's a .500 type of pitcher these days who can eat up innings. Is that good enough to stay in the rotation? It HAS to be, there are no two ways about it. He pitched through the fifth inning last night in a brave attempt to save the bullpen in this, the first game of the series. Manny continues to be mired in a homerless slump, going zero for four. Pedey (Pedroia) hit a home run and Jacoby Ellsbury contributed two of his team's six hits, but this game was over after three innings. Josh Beckett tries to right the ship at 9:05 pm EDT and his mound opponent will be Justin Duchscherer. A win would be nice for Josh "Baseball," because he's been "slightly off" in his past couple of starts.

I hope every one of you has a glorious Memorial Day holiday weekend. If you're driving anywhere, wear that seat belt and be extra cautious. A full contingent of troopers will be out on the highways and byways just about everywhere. So behave! Click on this post's title to be linked to the Boston Globe Red Sox homepage, where you'll find just about everything you wanted to know about last night's loss. For me, the page has been turned and I'm looking forward to watching our ace win one. Primetime baseball from the left coast after a holiday cookout with steaks, burgers, hot dogs, corn, salad and all the fixins', with an ice cold beverage or three to cleanse the palate and a boatload of friends and neighbors to enjoy it with is on my agenda. Sounds like a plan? Well, it is! So have fun, be safe, and as always, BE WELL. Happy Memorial Day, and any and all comments would be greatly appreciated. My Constant Readers, I thank you for stopping in once again, and I'll be back soon, immediately if the news warrants.