MLB奧克蘭運動家官網9/13新聞 MINNEAPOLIS -- Dan Haren was so focused on his start Wednedday in Minnesota that he could barely sleep the night before. Minus optimal rest, he allowed three hits in eight innings, and Milton Bradley scored the lone Oakland run as the Athletics woon, 1-0, on Wedneday at Minnesota to avoid a three- game sweep. Oakland, which started the day 4 1/2 games ahead of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the American League West Division, won for just the fourth time in nine games. "It was a game we had to win, and I think everyone knew that," said Haren (14-11), noting that he lay awake in bed for about three hours. "I really couldn't stop thinking about this game. ... I had so much adrenaline coming into this game. It just felt like a playoff game to me, with the atmosphere and [Francisco] Liriano out there. With a game we had to have, I just felt like I had to make a difference and I had to go out and have my best stuff." Haren, who was 2-2 with a 7.63 ERA in his last four starts, struck out seven and walked one in earning Oakland's first quality start in nine games. His strikeout-to-walk ratio of 4.15 is on track to be the best in franchise history. Rube Waddell's ratio was 3.84 in 1904. "For him to come out big time in a game and give our bullpen a break is huge," said Nick Swisher, who was 1-for-3 at the plate. In their previous eight games, Oakland starters were 2-4, allowing 41 earned runs in 42 innings (8.79 ERA), and the staff ERA was 6.78. But all along, players and coaches remained optimistic that all it would take to turn that around was a quality outing by one starter. "I think we've been waiting for it, and hopefully it was today," said Haren. "I know our starting pitching hasn't done that great lately, but we carried the team early in the year when we weren't swinging the bats well. Now that our bats are turned around, hopefully we make a strong push in these last 2 1/2 weeks and get our starting pitching back to where we were and close this thing out the way we should." Haren, whose season best was allowing two hits in eight innings May 19 in a 1-0 win over San Francisco, retired 15 of 16 Minnesota hitters in one stretch, and never faced more than four batters in an inning. "I threw strikes, got ahead of guys, and everything was down. I was determined not to leave anything up," he said. Huston Street pitched a perfect ninth inning for his 32nd save in 40 opportunities. "It's a tough spot for a manager, because he was at about 100 pitches and he was throwing a shutout, but we had Huston rested and he got the last three outs," said manager Ken Macha. Oakland, which won for the first time in six games at the Metrodome this year, got some help from second-base umpire Randy Marsh to score its lone run. With two outs in the sixth inning, Bradley, who singled, attempted to swipe second base on a delayed steal. The throw from catcher Mike Redmond was on target but, in the view of Marsh, the tag from Luis Castillo was a split-second too late. Television replays appeared to show otherwise. Bradley scored on a ground-rule double by Jay Payton. Bradley, who made a diving catch to rob Jason Bartlett of a hit in the fourth, thwarted Minnesota's best scoring chance in the seventh. After Michael Cuddyer singled, Bradley threw out Justin Morneau, who was trying to stretch a bloop single into two bases, for the second Twins out. With Cuddyer on third, Haren got Torii Hunter to hit a weak bouncer back to him for the easy third out. "That was the difference in the ballgame right there," said Payton. It also was crucial that Swisher was shaded toward the left-field line to make a couple of late catches against Minnesota left-handed batters that likely would have fallen for hits, had he been in a normal left-field position. "Instincts, man. Instincts," Swisher loudly proclaimed. Oakland may have gotten a break in that Liriano, Minnesota's rookie phenom, left after experiencing elbow pain in the third inning. "Against that guy, you just try to put your bat on the ball, because you can't try to do too much," Swisher said. "I hope everything is OK with him. It didn't look good." The win completed a 3-3 road trip to Tampa Bay and Minnesota, but the Athletics hope the momentum gained from this victory will carry over into a 10-game homestand that starts Friday. "Every win in September is big, but there's still a long way to go," Macha said. "Seventeen games is a lot of baseball." 雙方攻守數據 Oakland (83-62) Won 1 Minnesota (85-60) Lost 1 September 13, 2006 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Oakland 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 9 0 Minnesota 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 Standings thru 9/13/06 | Gameday | Athletics Stats | Twins Stats Oakland AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG Kendall, C 4 0 2 0 0 1 2 .296 Ellis, 2B 4 0 0 0 0 2 4 .244 Bradley, RF 4 1 2 0 0 0 0 .275 Thomas, DH 4 0 1 0 0 1 2 .280 Payton, CF 4 0 1 1 0 1 1 .300 Chavez, 3B 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 .243 Swisher, 1B-LF 3 0 1 0 1 1 0 .255 Kielty, LF 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 .272 Johnson, 1B 3 0 1 0 0 1 0 .235 Scutaro, SS 4 0 1 0 0 0 3 .247 Totals 35 1 9 1 1 8 15 BATTING 2B: Payton (27, Garza), Thomas (9, Garza). TB: Kendall 2; Bradley 2; Thomas 2; Payton 2; Swisher; Johnson; Scutaro. RBI: Payton (54). 2-out RBI: Payton. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Ellis 2; Kendall; Chavez 2. GIDP: Thomas. Team LOB: 8. BASERUNNING SB: Bradley (7, 2nd base off Garza/Redmond). FIELDING Outfield assists: Bradley (Morneau at 2nd base). Minnesota AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG Castillo, 2B 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 .291 Punto, 3B 4 0 0 0 0 2 0 .296 Redmond, C 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 .331 Cuddyer, RF 3 0 1 0 0 1 1 .277 Morneau, 1B 2 0 1 0 1 0 1 .325 Hunter, CF 3 0 0 0 0 2 2 .272 Rabe, LF 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 .286 a-Mauer, PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .348 Ford, LF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .220 Tyner, DH 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 .314 Bartlett, SS 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 .327 Totals 29 0 3 0 1 7 5 a-Lined out for Rabe in the 8th. BATTING TB: Redmond; Cuddyer; Morneau. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Hunter. Team LOB: 3. FIELDING E: Punto (12, throw). DP: (Bartlett-Castillo-Morneau). Oakland IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Haren (W, 14-11) 8.0 3 0 0 1 7 0 3.79 Street (S, 32) 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3.06 Minnesota IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Liriano 2.0 1 0 0 0 2 0 2.16 Garza (L, 1-5) 5.2 8 1 1 1 4 0 5.50 Reyes 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0.99 Rincon 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.96 Liriano pitched to 1 batter in the 3rd. Pitches-strikes: Haren 101-74, Street 14-8, Liriano 28-20, Garza 93-63, Reyes 15-10, Rincon 2-2. Ground outs-fly outs: Haren 6-10, Street 1-2, Liriano 3-1, Garza 7-6, Reyes 1-0, Rincon 0-1. Batters faced: Haren 27, Street 3, Liriano 7, Garza 25, Reyes 3, Rincon 1. Inherited runners-scored: Garza 1-0, Reyes 1-0. Umpires: HP: Mike Everitt. 1B: Tom Hallion. 2B: Randy Marsh. 3B: Alfonso Marquez. Weather: 69 degrees, dome. Wind: Indoors. T: 2:38. Att: 18,902. --

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