Javier Lopez joins the party

Javier Lopez has come in to face Daric Barton.

In case I haven't written it enough, Lopez did not fare very well against lefties last season. But he did, in this case, getting Barton to line out to Kevin Youkilis. I spoke with Lopez earlier this week about the problem. He thought, if anything, he stopped being quite as aggressive with lefties, saving that for righties, against whom he traditionally has fared poorly. That might explain his odd splits last season, he thought.

Meanwhile, Keith Foulke is warming up for the A's. Now that has an old-school ring to it, doesn't it?