Red Sox Game 2 in Japan Live Blog

6:00 - Tokyo is the world's largest city? I hadn't realized that. I'm looking forward to seeing how Jon Lester looks tonight. I haven't always been a believer in Lester but I'm coming around.

6:09 - I just realized that I wrote "tonight" when it's actually morning. I guess the fact that it's night in Japan coupled with the fact that the sun hasn't risen yet coupled with the fact that I haven't had any coffee yet has me confused.

6:16 - Rich Harden has a no-hitter going! He lost the perfect game by walking Ortiz though.

6:25 - Jon Lester has a no-hitter going too! He lost his perfect game with a walk in the first too though.

6:33 - Rich Harden keeps his no-hitter bid alive with a 1-2-3 second inning. This may only interest me and it's no secret that Kevin Cash is no wizard at the plate but I found it interesting that last year in Pawtucket (AAA) he hit just .176 in 176 at bats. Symmetry.

6:48 - Jon Lester loses both his no-hitter and shut-out as the A's take a 1-0 lead. I was reading Alex Beam's review of the HBO series John Adams during the inning. Glad to see he mentioned John Bell's blog Boston 1775. I've had that blog on my blogroll for over a year.

7:03 - Rich Harden has his no-hitter still intact after 3 innings and I have my first cup of coffee in the morning.

7:10 - I should note that Coco Crisp is playing today in place of Jacoby Ellsbury. I think this is because Terry Francona wants to get Crisp a start and also because Crisp has had some success against Harden in the past (2-6). Emil Brown hits a 3-run blast and the A's take a 4-0 lead. I'm going to take this opportunity to see if Emil Brown is taken in any of my fantasy baseball leagues.

7:29 - Harden loses his no-hitter but now has 7 K's. He's looking sharp. I can't wait for the Sox to get into the A's bullpen.

7:33 - I'm assuming that if I were listening to ESPN2's broadcast of the game that I would have heard Steve Phillips talk about how Harden has this year's Cy Young Award wrapped up by now. Middle of the 4th and both pitchers have thrown 73 pitches.

7:48 - Should I be worried that Jason Varitek may be taking batting tips from Kevin Cash? I've been impressed with what I've seen of David Aardsma who has come into the game in relief of Lester. The guy is only 26 and was a top draft pick (22nd pick of the 2003 draft). Manny hits a HR and wins me $20 in my home run pool. Thanks Manny. A's lead 4-1.

8:15 - I'm not sorry to see Rich Harden go. His final line was 6 IP, 1 ER and 9 K's. I also want to take this opportunity to congratulate the UMass basketball team on a great come from behind victory at Syracuse last night. That was an exciting game to watch. My guess is that UMass coach Travis Ford gets a job offer from a bigger program after the season is over. If Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim was a MLB GM - he'd be the White Sox's Kenny Williams.

8:35 - I would not be surprised in the least if Huston Street is either traded or demoted to set-up duty by the A's and that Keith Foulke takes over as closer. I admit that I was surprised both to learn that Foulke is only 11th on the all-time list for saves for the A's (with 43) and that Hall of Famer Left Grove is above him on the list (with 51). Foulke is probably the early favorite for come-back player of the year. A's take a 5-1 lead as we head into the 9th.

9:01 - Alan Embree pitches a scoreless 9th and the Red Sox lose 5-1. For the record - yesterday I had a bacon and cheese omelet and today I had brown bread toast and a banana.

EDIT: Lyford was up and blogging this morning as well.