Matt Garza dominated the A's in Oakland last night, firing eight innings of one-run ball on four hits and three walks with five strikeouts to drop his ERA to 3.45 (fellow trade candidate Kevin Gregg nailed down a save with a scoreless ninth as well). ESPN's Buster Olney tweets that a "dream scenario" has unfolded for the Cubs, as Garza is now the best pitcher available, and he's boosted his trade value with a hot streak. Garza has allowed just three earned runs in his past 30 innings of work. Here are Thursday's rumors on the right-hander…
- The Red Sox were among the teams on hand to scout Garza's start last night, writes Joe Stiglich in a special contribution to ESPN Chicago. Stiglich adds that Garza — a veteran of the trading circuit — isn't letting rumors affect him. Said Garza, "[Until] my phone rings, I’m gonna plan on being a Cub and I’m gonna stay a Cub. We’ll see."
- Gordon Wittenymyer of the Chicago Sun-Times reports (free subscription required) that a dozen scouts were on hand to see Garza's start last night, and he implies that there's a possibility that it may have been Garza's last as a Cub. Wittenymyer notes that the Cubs were burned by waiting until the deadline last summer, as they had little time to navigate issues surrounding Ryan Dempster's no-trade clause and saw Garza get injured.
