After three months away, Daniel Bard experienced his
first taste of major league action in quite some time Friday.
Bard entered in the sixth inning of Oakland's 20-2 rout of
Boston on Friday and pitched one inning. Although he surrendered a solo shot and fired one wild pitch, Bard said he enjoyed the adrenaline rush.
"It wasn't the eighth inning with a one-run lead,
but it's a lot bigger stage than what I've pitched on the last couple of
months," Bard said. "It was fun, I felt comfortable out there, I
wasn't quite as sharp as I'd like to be, but I haven't pitched in four days, but
it was good to be back out there."
Bard threw 18 pitches, 10 for strikes.
It was progress for Bard, who is 5-6 with a 5.30 ERA this season and was demoted to Pawtucket after losing his command in the starting rotation.
Now, he's getting used to life in the bullpen once
again.
"I feel like I worked really hard just to get back
here," Bard said. "Everything's not perfect. It's not where I wanted,
but I definitely made big steps in the right direction, so just try to continue
that for the next month. I know I have to prove some things to some people, and
I'm ready to do that."
Bard's fastball reached 93 mph against the
Athletics.
