Erik Bedard.....

[RShack]

Bedard pitching now, in a mostly empty stadium in OAK.

First inning: 3 up, 3 down. Two easy pop-ups, then he K'd Giambi.

Second inning: 3 up, 3 down. K's Holliday, Ks Cust, then gets Chavez on a foul pop-up. 17p, 31 total.

Third inning: Suzuki F8, Ellis 6-3 (Cedeno at SS); Davis bloop single to 8; Sweeney F7. 9p, 40 total.

Fourth inning: Cabrera F8; Giambi 4-3; Holliday IF-hit to SS (Cedeno gloved the ball just L of 2B, but fell over for no apparent reason); Cust full-count BB, iffy call, Erik stares at the sky; Chavez K's.

Lotsa 1st-p strikes, good FB and Curve, occasional Change, but starting to miss on occasion. 23p, 63 total. (With CI instead of Cedeno, it would've been a 12p inning.)

Fifth inning: 3-up, 3-down: Chavez 6-3; Ellis easy pops to 5 on IF grass; Davis 6-3. No muss, no fuss. 11p, 72 total.

Sixth inning: 3-up, 3-down: Sweeney 6-3; Cabrera K's; Giambi L9. 6p, 78 total.

Erik has 5 K's, 1 BB, 2 H's, but Cahill has a no-no going thru 6.

Seventh inning: Top of inning, Beltre single ends no-no, M. Sweeney doubles him home. M's up 1-0.

Erik in bottom-7th: 3-up, 3-down: Holliday 4-3; Cust K's on 3p ; Chavez K's. 11p, 89 total.

Getting his spooky curve over at will, they're just looking at it. 10 in a row, 7 K's. 2 H each side, M's up 1-0.

Eighth inning: Erik picks up his glove to come out for the 8th, somebody filled it with sand (or something), he's dumping sand out of his glove and looking around, everybody else in the dugout is trying really, really hard to look the other way ;-)

Erik in bottom-8th: 3-up, 3-down: Suzuki 5-3 (Beltre good play to his L); Ellis 6-3; Davis F-7. 13 in a row. 9p, 98 total.

TV guys say that's 2nd time he's gone 8 for SEA, 9th time in career.

Bottom-9th: Going for the 1-0 CG: Sweeney singles to LF; Cabrera sac bunt 1-3, Sweeney to 2B;

Bedard yanked for Aardsma; 8.1IP 3H 1BB 7K 102p;

Aardsma K's Giambi; walks Holliday; Cust L7, game over. Bedard's 3-hitter beats the other team's 3-hitter, 1-0.

[beaner]

Good lord Aardsma made that interesting. Good for Erik, and good for Seattle. They're my big time sleeper this year. I have them at 80-1 to win the World Series. A stretch I know, but they'll do some damage this year.

[elrod7]

Rumor has it, Eric would go to Blue Jays games as a kid wearing an O's cap.

[baltimoriole]

I'd kill to have Bedard return after this season. Of course he won't because he's going to have a monster year. Already 2-0 with a 15-1 K-BB ratio and a 2.08 ERA so you know the Skanks will come in with a $100M contract because Pettitte sucks and they have no 4th or 5th pitcher for their rotation.

[TyCobb]

Bedard look great. I can't imagine the numbers Bedard would put up if he pitched half his games in Oakland. I believe Bedard is going to have a monster year.

[RShack]

I'd kill to have Bedard return after this season. Of course he won't because he's going to have a monster year. Already 2-0 with a 15-1 K-BB ratio and a 2.08 ERA so you know the Skanks will come in with a $100M contract because Pettitte sucks and they have no 4th or 5th pitcher for their rotation.

My hunch is he wants no part of NYC. (That's based on nothing.)

[Boy Howdy]

My hunch is he wants no part of NYC. (That's based on nothing.)

I have the same hunch, but then again, a lot of people said the same thing about C.C. Sabathia.

Just glad Erik's Erik again. Watching him deal reminds me why baseball will always be the best.

[TyCobb]

I have the same hunch, but then again, a lot of people said the same thing about C.C. Sabathia.

Just glad Erik's Erik again. Watching him deal reminds me why baseball will always be the best.

I think I could live with Bedard as a Yankee (I am lying...Bedard is my favorite player and it would kill me to see him in Pinstripes) just to see how the press handles him.

[ShoelesJoe]

He'll be on the DL by August, and miss the last two months of the season. Bedard's always been a three month pitcher.

[RShack]

I think I could live with Bedard as a Yankee (I am lying...Bedard is my favorite player and it would kill me to see him in Pinstripes) just to see how the press handles him.

Oh, I think we know how the press in NYC would handle him.

The interesting part would be to see how he handles them ;-)

[Sports Guy]

It will be very interesting to see what type of deal Bedard gets this coming offseason, whether he is healthy all year or not.

Personally, I would love to have him back in Baltimore.

[Moose Milligan]

It will be very interesting to see what type of deal Bedard gets this coming offseason, whether he is healthy all year or not.

Personally, I would love to have him back in Baltimore.

I'd like to have him back, too.

2010 could look like Bedard, Guthrie, Koji, Matusz, Arrieta...trade Guthrie for parts and bring up Tillman later.

[TyCobb]

Oh, I think we know how the press in NYC would handle him.

The interesting part would be to see how he handles them ;-)

I think he is one of the few people in baseball that doesn't care what people outside the coaching staff and teammate think about him. I think I know exactly how the Erik is going to handle it. Mocking the press and ignoring them when he wants too. It will be interesting to see how the NYC press handle someone like that. I don't remember a Yankee that wasn't nice to the press (Randy Johnson incident comes to mind, but that was a one event thing)

[TyCobb]

I'd like to have him back, too.

2010 could look like Bedard, Guthrie, Koji, Matusz, Arrieta...trade Guthrie for parts and bring up Tillman later.

I would be so happy if we sign Erik back to this team. He is one of those pitchers that can take the bat away from an entire team when he is healthy.

[Frobby]

I'm glad to see Erik pitching a gem like that, especially going that deep into a game with a low pitch count. He's fun to watch when he's on his game.