Next Up: the Oakland As.

Rich Harden is the pitcher for tomorrow. When we saw Harden in March, he gave up one run (a home run) on three hits in six innings. He walked three and struck out nine. When we saw him in April, he didn't allow any runs on four hits over five innings. He walked four and struck out six. In mid-April he went on the DL with an injury to his right shoulder. He came back in May and struggled against Texas (3.2 innings, five runs, eight hits.) In his last start against Atlanta, though, he was much improved (7.0 innings, one run, four hits.) He's got a mid-nineties fastball, a really good slider and a strong changeup. He's generally not bothered by baserunners and keeps a cool head if he ends up in a tough situation. He does tend to run his pitch count up, though. If the As are interested in at least trying to keep him healthy, the way to beat Harden would be to get him out of the game as quickly as you possibly can.

Saturday's pitcher is scheduled to be Justin Duchscherer. Duchscherer has ridiculously good control. His fastball is only in the high eighties but he changes speeds very well and very often. He uses a good curveball as his out pitch. He doesn't strike out many batters and he doesn't walk many batters. He can be quite hittable if he's distracted and he can be distracted by baserunners.

The pitcher for Sunday is Joe Blanton. He throws a low-nineties fastball, a slider, and a curveball. He has fabulous command on all of his pitches. He doesn't have really, really dominant stuff and seems to function without an out pitch so he doesn't get a lot of strike outs. He does regularly go deep into games. In both of his starts against Boston this season, he's given up seven hits, walked one, and struck out three.

Since we last met the As they've added Manny Delcarmen's nemesis Frank Thomas. Thomas has been hitting pretty well for them since they've picked him up. The other DH that they have is Mike Sweeney and he's a decent hitter. Bobby Crosby and Jack Hannahan are decent hitters but their best hitter so far this year is Jack Cust (he was their DH back in March/April but has switched to left field since.)