BEANTOWN BLITZ

One of the few weaknesses the Oakland A's show on a regular basis is the inability to finish off an opponent. See 2000 Game 5 ALDS, 2001 Game 5 ALDS, 2002 Game 5 ALDS. Last year, at about this time, the A's finished off a half dozen opponents and had themselves a 20 game winning streak.

Today the A's need to get at least six innings out of Pitchy Rich Harden and beat Pedro Martinez.

If they can manage to sweep the Red Sox, in Boston, the A's will control the AL Wild Card by three full games. With six weeks left in the seaosn, that's a pretty big lead for a team that has a lot of kick down the stretch.