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		Michael Duca's A's Q&A By Pearl Allison Lo June 27, 2007

	A's Questions: 1. The A's have dropped to third place in the American League West and have hit the skids everything hinges on pitching and is that the reason why the struggle right now? Pearl Lo--Lately they have been in kind of a funk as the A's have been going the way the Giants had been going recently and the Giants put a small cluster of wins together but the A's are going the other way. On Tuesday night the A's looked like they were going to win but the pitching just got hit in the bottom of the ninth inning for five runs. The A's had their ace in their Dan Haren but he hasn't been that effective against Cleveland and Cleveland has been doing good recently since kind of a tough loss. 2. Even though Haren has been throwing some good games lately your pitching depends on good hitting? Pearl Lo--The A's have not been getting the runs like they usually have before so it's even hard for pitchers so even if the pitching staff is pitching good then if the club is not hitting there is really not much that the club can do. You have to remember that Haren pitched many times well but didn't get enough run support so it's kind of tough on him. He actually didn't pitch bad in his last outing last Tuesday at Jacobs especially against Cleveland but the A's just couldn't pull through so hopefully in Haren's next outing better luck. 3. Rich Harden made a one inning appearance in relief on Monday night and got the side he's been out two months with a sore right shoulder and his future is at steak with Oakland. Matter of fact the A's tried shopping him at one time during this past DL stint with no takers but no telling what his future is going to be with the A's. Pearl Lo--Harden is not ready to return to the rotation but he has actually pitched some relief innings and did pretty well in that role and hopefully that's a good sign and that his arm is back in some respective shape. Right now Harden's right shoulder is not doing to well so it's kind of tough. But because of his injuries in his shoulder its not looking too well for him but maybe but I don't know if thats something that might be agreeable to continue to pitch in short relief maybe that could work because he seems to be doing pretty well in that role. Pearl Lo is filling in for Michael Duca until the All-Star Break and covers A's baseball.