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Oakland's Braden finally gets a win

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Oakland’s Braden finally gets a win
For Dallas Braden, the wait is over. With the A's looking to take their fourth consecutive series, Braden was itching to get his first win in 11 weeks. After throwing a perfect game against the Rays on May 9th, Braden had not been able to seal the deal in nine starts.
"I can quit answering calls from the Oakland Zoo looking for the monkey on my back," said Braden, who moved to 5-7 on the season.
Indeed, Braden can breathe a sigh of relief as he did just enough to lift his team to a 6-4 victory and subsequent series win over the White Sox.
Braden recovered from a long first inning that resulted in a Paul Konerko RBI double to put together an impressive five straight scoreless innings.
"He had a good sinker going for him today," batterymate Kurt Suzuki said.
"His sinker was down in the zone. He didn't leave very many balls up. And when it was up, it was up and away. His changeup was working, and his changeup and fastball are his bread and butter. But when he can get that sinker going on that outside corner to righties and inside to lefties, it helps him out a lot. It opens up the whole game for him, the whole plate."
Braden was pulled in the seventh inning and was greeted with a standing ovation of more than 17,000 present at the Oakland Coliseum. He, along with just about everyone else in the confines of the stadium, knew the victory had been a long time coming.
"I think it's been bothering him a bit, just because everyone keeps talking about the perfect game, and rightfully so," Kurt Suzuki said. "That's the type of thing, you do such a great thing, and you're obviously going to be under the microscope a little bit more. Now it's time for him to get on a roll. We're excited to have him back, and the way he's pitching is awesome."
Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen didn't go so far as deeming Braden "awesome," as Suzuki did. In fact, Guillen wasn’t even really impressed with Oakland’s lefty and like he usually does, he told it like he saw it.
"He's a character," the White Sox skipper said. "Kooky son-of-a-gun. That's all I can say. I don't see anything special -- he beat us. He beat us because he threw strikes, changed speeds and he gave his team a good chance to win. But he's only another guy on the mound. I don't see anything special."
Maybe, Guillen doesn’t see the anything worthwhile in Braden but the A’s would strongly disagree. Braden has prepared very hard behind the scenes and patiently waited for his opportunity to get back to his winning ways after recovering from an elbow tendinitis.
"For the most part, I was able to finish pitches (Sunday)," Braden said, "which is what I was kind of worried about from my last start."
Suzuki, the A's new $16 million man by way of a four-year contract agreement, went 2-for-4 and drove in three runs. He's 14-for-34 (.412) in his past nine games after a 4-for-37 slump in the previous nine.
Suzuki said he simplified his approach at the plate after that nine-game scuffle. "I just tried to get a good base going and reduce the movement in my whole setup and swing," he said. "I kind of went back to the basics and sometimes that's what you've got to do."
Oakland’s next opponent will be the Rangers. If the A’s are going to make a decent push in the second half, they must do well against Texas — a team who is 7.5 games ahead in the standings and who Oakland will play 13 times in the second half.  The teams split six games in the first half.

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