Game #7: A's 6, Mariners 4

April 9, 2006 | A's @ Seattle

Oh my goodness... Like Harden, I was calm and confident through the first seven innings, but the last couple of innings slowly unraveled all the hard work he'd put in. I can only think that he must be disappointed.

Harden was amazing through seven, allowing only one hit and no walks. But he opens the 8th with a walk and a single. Macha takes him out. Fine. But after that, nothing goes by clockwork anymore. The Mariners start scoring.

The wacky part is, they get on base and/or advance because of a bobble, two walks, a HBP, a wild pitch, defensive indifference, and Huston Street throwing a tad too high to first (Swisher's able to get it, but the runner is safe and I'm having an anxiety attack back in California). Street finally gets the last out, but what was looking like a 6-0 victory instead ends 6-4. Yeah, I'm bitching about it. I wanted the shutdown.

I was looking forward to today's game because I wanted to see Harden pitch to Richie Sexson. Name jokes aside, I recall with deep fondness the June 21, 2005 game in Seattle that I watched on TV.

Harden was back from the DL and at one point in the game, he strikes out Richie Sexson. The inning is over. Sexson looks absolutely stunned and he watches Harden walk off the mound. Sexson turns to the umpire, then looks back at Harden again and the look on his face is a mix of incredulity and, may I say, admiration.

"He threw me a pitch tonight I've never seen before," marveled Seattle slugger Richie Sexson. "I'm sure it was a splitter, but it was wacky. It, like, knuckled up there, like a [Tim] Wakefield pitch.

"The umpire...was asking me, 'What was that?' I told him I didn't know."

Harden pitched extremely well this afternoon. In fact Sexson was 1-4 with three strikeouts and two of those Ks were courtesy of Harden.

team record: 5-2 | streak: W-3 | well-A-meter: 3