TOKYO — Split two games, get back on a plane.
Rich Harden struck out nine over six innings and Emil Brown hit a three-run homer, leading the Oakland Athletics to a 5-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox yesterday in the finale of their season-opening series in Japan.
"Last night we lost a heartbreaker. We won tonight. Now everyone's looking forward to getting back to the Bay Area and recovering," Oakland manager Bob Geren said.
Boston began its World Series title defense by winning Tuesday's opener 6-5 in 10 innings after rallying in the ninth. The Red Sox headed to Los Angeles after yesterday's game for three more exhibitions against the Dodgers, including one at the Los Angeles Coliseum on Saturday.
"We'll take a step back tomorrow and have an optional workout," manager Terry Francona said. "We tried to do our homework on what to expect from travel. We're not going to talk ourselves into being tired, and we'll do what we need to do to get ready for the next start in Oakland."
After the New York Yankees went to Japan to start the 2004 season against Tampa Bay, several players said they had trouble adjusting when they got home.
The Red Sox and A's resume their regular seasons with a two-game series starting Tuesday in Oakland.
No team has ever swept a season-opening series in Japan. The Chicago Cubs and New York Mets split their two-game Japanese series in 2000, as did the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2004.
Since the teams arrived last week, the focus was on the Red Sox, coming off their second title in four seasons, and Oakland was almost an afterthought.
Indeed, late in the game, an Oakland flag above the scoreboard in center fell and landed on the warning track between innings. A groundskeeper went out and retrieved it.
With Japanese stars Daisuke Matsuzaka and Hideki Okajima, the Red Sox were clearly the fan favorites.
"We were received so warmly," Francona said. "Having Daisuke and Hideki added to that and hopefully we gained some fans."
Harden (1-0) helped the A's gain something from the trip. He is coming back from three injury-plagued seasons, and he made just four starts last year — none after July 7. This time, the right-hander allowed three hits and three walks, throwing 95 pitches.
"I had some bad luck the past couple of years," Harden said. "But hopefully, I can put that behind me and do what I need to do to help the ballclub this season."
Harden said he tried to stay focused for yesterday's game and not let the unique surroundings at Tokyo Dome affect him.
"You want to be consistent with how you approach your starts," he said. "It did feel a bit different out there, almost like a playoff game, but you just try to treat it like any other game."
Oakland built a 4-0 lead against Jon Lester (0-1) while Harden shut down the Red Sox. He allowed his only run in the sixth on a homer by Manny Ramirez, who struck out in his first two at-bats.
David Ortiz was 0-for-2 with a strikeout and a walk against Harden. Coming in, Ortiz was 4-for-5 against Harden, and Ramirez was 2-for-3, each homering twice.
"Rich showed tonight against the world champions how good he is and how much we need him," Geren said. "His entire spring training went well with no health issues. We're hoping to get 30-plus more starts like that."
Oakland went ahead in the second inning of this one when Bobby Crosby doubled and scored on Chris Denorfia's single. Brown made it 4-0 with a three-run homer in the third.
"It's a great opportunity for me," said Brown, who made up for a costly baserunning mistake in Tuesday's loss. "We didn't play too bad last night, I made a mistake and it cost us. I was glad I could help the team today, so that we can head home with a win."
Oakland added a run in the eighth off Bryan Corey on Jeff Fiorentino's RBI single after a double by Kurt Suzuki, a native of Hawaii with Japanese grandparents.
Ramirez struck out three times after hitting a pair of two-run doubles Tuesday. He stood at the plate admiring his 10th-inning drive in the opener, thinking it was a three-run homer, and had to hustle to reach second.
He could afford to stand and watch his shot yesterday, a sure home run deep into the left-field seats that moved him within nine of joining the 500-homer club.
Santiago Casilla, Keith Foulke and Alan Embree followed Harden with one scoreless inning apiece, completing a five-hitter. Oakland rebounded from its fourth straight opening-day loss. Foulke threw a called third strike past Ramirez to end the eighth with a runner on second.
Lester gave up four runs, five hits and three walks in four innings.
"Emil got one pitch just a little bit over the plate and he hit
it over the wall," Lester said.
Notes: The crowd was much more subdued than it was during the opener, when Matsuzaka pitched in his homeland for the first time since signing a $52 million, six-year contract with Boston before last season.
Coco Crisp starts Boston's second game in center field
TOKYO (AP) — Coco Crisp began spring training knowing there was a good chance he might not be with the Red Sox when it ended.
Yesterday, he started in center field against the Athletics, one day after prize rookie Jacoby Ellsbury played there in Boston's season opener. Just how long they'll be teammates is difficult to predict, because Crisp missed most of the exhibition season with a groin injury.
And that's kept manager Terry Francona from having a serious chat with Crisp to outline his future.
"I don't know what the outline is and he knows that," Francona said before facing Oakland yesterday. "I just told him, 'Be patient during this trip,' because he hasn't really had his legs under him a whole lot.
"I can't promise guys stuff that I don't know, but I know I'll promise them that I'll communicate with them and be honest with them. But I'm not sure I have all the answers to this one."
Crisp was the starter most of last season. Ellsbury began it at Double-A Portland. After being recalled Sept. 1, he played in 26 games, hitting safely in 23, and finishing the season with a .353 average. Then he led Boston with a .438 average in its World Series sweep against Colorado.
Ellsbury went 1-for-4 Tuesday night in a 6-5 win in 10 innings. Then Crisp got the call against Rich Harden.
"We want to get as many people involved in these two games as possible because we have time off in between," Francona said. "And with a hard thrower like Harden, it's probably a better chance today to play Coco."
But he doesn't want to platoon Crisp and Ellsbury.
