A’s get split with Bosox in Japan

Rich Harden struck out nine while Emil Brown hit a three-run homer in a 5-1 win.

TOKYO (AP) — 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 Wednesday 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.

The Red Sox and A’s resume their regular seasons with a two-game series starting Tuesday in Oakland.

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.

With Japanese stars Daisuke Matsuzaka and Hideki Okajima, the Red Sox were clearly the fan favorites.

“We were received so warmly,” Boston manager Terry 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 Wednesday’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.

Oakland went ahead in the second inning when Bobby Crosby doubled and scored on Chris Denorfia’s single. Brown made it 4-0 with a three-run homer in the third.

ATHLETICS 5, RED SOX 1

BOSTONOAKLAND

abrhbiabrhbi

Pedroia 2b4000Buck rf5000

Yukilis 1b3000Ellis 2b3100

Ortiz dh3000Barton 1b3000

Rmirez lf4111Sweney dh4120

Lowell 3b4020Brown lf4113

Moss rf3000Crosby ss4110

Casey ph1000Hnnhan 3b4010

Varitek c4000Suzuki c3120

Crisp cf3010Dnorfia cf2011

Lugo ss2010Cust ph0000

Frntino cf1011

Totals31151Totals33595

Boston000001000—1

Oakland01300001x—5

E—Crosby (1). DP—Oakland 2. LOB—Boston 6, Oakland 8. 2B—Crisp (1), Crosby (1), Suzuki 2 (2). HR—Ramirez (1), Brown (1). SB—Lugo (1).

IPHRERBBSO

Boston

Lester L,0-1454434

Aardsma1 2-310003

Lopez1-300010

Delcarmen110000

Corey121100

Oakland

Harden W,1-0631139

Casilla110002

Foulke100001

Embree110001

WP—Foulke. Umpires—Home, Hunter Wendelstedt; First, Tim Timmons; Second, Paul Nauert; Third, Rick Reed. T—2:51. A—44,735.