Athletics phenom Rich Harden tames Indians in 3-1 rout

The 21-year-old threw seven shutout innings in his home debut.
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- When Rich Harden retired the side on four pitches in the first inning, the fans behind the Oakland Athletics' dugout rose and cheered. By the seventh, the entire Coliseum was roaring with every out.
It was the sound of love at first sight.
Harden struck out nine in seven scoreless innings, leading the A's to a 3-1 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Thursday in a spectacular home debut for the 21-year-old right-hander.
Harden (2-0) allowed three hits and four walks while carving up the Indians' lineup -- and striking out eight of nine hitters at one point. After just three major league starts, Harden is living up to his hype as one of the best prospects in baseball.
"Being up here, I've realized there's not too much of a difference," said Harden, who began the season by retiring 39 straight hitters with Double-A Midland before becoming a PCL All-Star at Triple-A Sacramento.
"If I throw strikes, it's going to be fine. It's mostly the off-the-field stuff that's been an adjustment. ... We have some early wake-up calls in the minors, so it's nice to hop on a private jet."
Strong rotation
With AL Cy Young winner Barry Zito, Mark Mulder and Tim Hudson all in the midst of strong seasons, the A's have no shortage of outstanding pitching.
But so far, Harden has been even more dominating than his talented teammates, allowing just two earned runs in 21 innings while striking out 16 batters.
So will the A's Big Three become a fantastic foursome? It's hard to doubt Harden's ability to join the group.
"That's something I don't think about," Harden said. "If people say that we've got four great guys, that's great. I've still got a lot of work to do before I'll start thinking about that."
Miguel Tejada had a two-run single and Eric Chavez homered for the A's, who won for the eighth time in 11 games and took two of three from Cleveland.
Real deal
"Harden looks like the real thing," Cleveland manager Eric Wedge said. "We helped him by chasing some pitches, but he had good stuff.
"He was able to go down and away with power. With that, he can move the ball up in the zone, too. Even his secondary stuff isn't bad, especially for such a young pitcher."
Two Indians reached base in the seventh during Cleveland's only attempt at a rally, but Harden escaped the jam.
"When they get guys in scoring position, he's got a little extra gear to go back and get a strikeout for you," A's manager Ken Macha said. "When a guy's pitching like that, you let him go. You don't want to over-coach him. It was a tremendous display."
Chad Bradford lost the shutout on Milton Bradley's RBI double in the eighth, and Keith Foulke pitched the ninth for his 28th save in 32 chances.
Jake Westbrook (4-6) allowed four hits, four walks and three runs for Cleveland. He allowed Chavez's homer in the second, and he couldn't escape a fifth-inning jam capped by Tejada's bases-loaded single.
"My counts got me into trouble all day," Westbrook said. "I need to make those adjustments to keep them low. I just made too many pitches in those five innings."