Wake roughed up again as Boston's winning streak ends at 7

Oakland 8, Sox 3
WP: Harden (3-3)
LP: Wakefield (3-0)
SV: None
HRs: BOS-Pedroia (3); OAK-Thomas (7), Ellis (4)

SUMMARY:
Tim Wakefield continued his recent ineffective streak as the A's pounded him for 8 runs and 8 hits in 5 innings, and Frank Thomas and Rich Harden picked right up where they left off earlier this season in propelling Oakland to the win.

SUPERSTAR: Thomas 3-4, 2R, 2BI, HR
His 3rd homer this year off Boston, which gave Oakland a 3-0 lead in the first inning, set the tone for the night.

Doesn't matter what uniform he's wearing, the Big Hurt puts a big hurtin' on the Sox.

THE BIGGEST LOSER: Wakefield 5IP, 8H, 8ER, 4BB, 4K, 2HR
Over his last three starts Wake has allowed 23 hits, 17 earned runs and 5 homers in 13 innings for an ERA of 11.77 and a WHIP 2.38.

That knucklin' luck has to run out eventually, right?

RECAP:
We knew the winning streak had had to end sometime, but did it have to be so soon?

As I hinted at in my preview post Oakland's best chance to grab a win in this series had to be tonight. Rich Harden, Oakland's ace (when healthy), who had pitched well earlier this season against the Sox, was on the hill for the A's while Tim Wakefield, who had not been pitching well of late, was on the mound for Boston.

Sure enough form held and just like that seven games of joy and a week's worth of celebrating went down the tubes in front of 29,000 at the Oakland Mausoleum.

The only good thing about the loss was that it was pretty much guaranteed early on, as Oakland put up three runs in the first inning and then four more in the third to take a 7-0 lead, enabling the viewers on the East Coast to tend to other matters such as watch a movie, engage in carnal activities or both.

Since it was such a shitty game and it is so late here I'm gonna do a quick recap and then hit the sack and try to forget all about this one.

Don't worry, it won't take long. Like I said, it was over quick.

After Harden (6IP, 4H, 2ER, 3BB, 8K, HR) pitched a 1-2-3 first inning including two strikeouts, Oakland got right to work in the bottom of the inning. With one out Bobby Crosby doubled to the left field corner, Jack Cust singled him home two pitches later, and on the very next pitch Wake threw Thomas launched a drive to deep left for a confidence-crushing two run homer that gave the A's a 3-0 lead before most people had even settled into their easy chairs.

Two more 1-2-3 frames by Harden left the Sox struggling to catch up, a feat that would prove impossible after Wake allowed four runs in the bottom of the third to all but seal the loss.

Crosby flied out to start the inning before Cust walked, the first of two bases on balls to he had to add to his league leading total of 39 coming in. Thomas followed with a single to left and after a wild pitch moved Cust to third Ryan Sweeney singled to drive in Cust to make the score 4-0 Oakland.

Wakefield did manage to get A's leading RBI man Emil Brown (0-4, 2K) to strike out, but then second baseman Mark Ellis, who had missed 9 games with a hammy problem, deposited a 1-0 pitch from Wake into the left field seats and right then the winning streak was over and the rest of the game was reduced to garbage time.

Boston did have a chance to get back in it, scoring its first run on its first hit of the game, a solo shot by Dustin Pedroia in the top of the 4th and then plating another in the 5th when Jacoby Ellsbury (2-4, 2BI) drove in JD Drew, who had doubled to lead off the inning, to cut the A's lead to 7-2.

But the game was basically decided in the following inning when Boston got men on 2nd and 3rd with one out but couldn't get a run home as Youk fouled out and JD Drew struck out to end the threat.

In the bottom of the inning the A's scored again on a walk, double and a sac fly, and even though David Aardsma and Mike Timlin combined for 3 innings of no hit relief, the offense couldn't muster enough steam to overcome the large early deficit.

More misery came for Boston as bench coach Dave Magadan was ejected for arguing with the ump about how much pine tar Drew had on his bat, and Ellsbury was cut down stealing for the second time in his career (and this week) when he overslid the bag in the 7th after he had singled in Julio Lugo for the Sox third run.

It was that kind of night in Oaktown.

Now it's time to move on and hope Beckett bounces back from his 4-homer debacle to right the ship tomorrow.

No need to start another losing streak here, fellas.

RECORD: 31-20
AL EAST: Up 1.5 gms
STREAK: L1
LAST 10: 7-3
UP NEXT: Sat @ OAK 905 Beckett vs. Duchscherer