Sweeney, who is scheduled to make his first start as the DH in Thursday's series finale against the A's, is 36. Anderson is 22.
"I had a pretty good idea about two weeks into camp that [Sweeney] was going to be on the team," Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu said. "He was a long shot, but knowing his makeup, you almost had a feeling before camp started that he was going to make it hard on us, and he did."
He sure did. Sweeney batted .500 in Spring Training.
"He's in the best shape I've seen him," Wakamatsu continued. "He's a little lighter, a little leaner. He had some knee issues last year, but doesn't seem to have any problems with that. He's running the bases fine."
Doug Fister is scheduled to make his first start of the season for the Mariners after making the Opening Day roster for the first time in his career. He went 0-3 with a 6.94 ERA in five Spring Training starts. He left his start on March 19 at Cincinnati after being hit by a line drive in the arm.
Moreover, he made his Major League debut in 2009 and was 1-0 in two starts against the A's last season, surrendering just two earned runs in 12 innings. His forte is using both sides of the plate and putting the ball in play. Opposing hitters batted .264 against him last season and hit 11 home runs.
Anderson heads into his first start looking to see a vast improvement from his changeup. Last year, he set an Oakland rookie record with 150 strikeouts and led the team in both strikeouts and wins (11) while finishing second in starts (30)."I'm trying to use it how I'd use it in a game, early in the count -- 1-0, 0-1, 1-1 -- where you can minimize your pitch count," he said. "So I've been really trying to work it into my game."
Heading into the finale, the A's won two of the first three games in the series in walk-off fashion. Oakland catcher Kurt Suzuki was the hero in Wednesday's 6-5 win.
Thu, 4/8 3:35 PM ET
| HITTER | AVG | AB | HR | RBI |
|---|
| HITTER | AVG | AB | HR | RBI |
|---|
A's make it three in a row
After dropping their Opening Night meeting, the A's defeated the Mariners for the third straight game Thursday behind six strong frames from southpaw Brett Anderson, who held Seattle to just three hits.
Athletics Beat
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| Seattle | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suzuki, I, RF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .200 |
| Figgins, 2B | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .200 |
| Gutierrez, F, CF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .429 |
| Bradley, LF | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | .077 |
| Sweeney, M, DH | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .250 |
| Lopez, Jo, 3B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | .267 |
| Tuiasosopo, 1B | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .500 |
| Moore, C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .000 |
| a-Kotchman, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .167 |
| Wilson, Ja, SS | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .143 |
| Totals | 32 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 14 | .200 |
| Oakland | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Davis, R, CF | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .316 |
| Barton, 1B | 4 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .333 |
| Sweeney, RF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | .294 |
| Kouzmanoff, 3B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | .235 |
| Suzuki, K, C | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .267 |
| Chavez, Er, DH | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .154 |
| 1-Patterson, E, PR-DH | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Ellis, 2B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .438 |
| Buck, T, LF | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | .214 |
| Pennington, SS | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .417 |
| Totals | 35 | 6 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 21 | .290 |
1-Ran for Chavez, Er in the 7th.
2B: Gutierrez, F (2, Blevins).
TB: Figgins 2; Gutierrez, F 2; Sweeney, M; Tuiasosopo 2; Wilson, Ja.
RBI: Sweeney, M (1), Tuiasosopo (1).
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Lopez, Jo.
GIDP: Kotchman.
Team RISP: 2-for-6.
Team LOB: 6.
2B: Sweeney (1, Fister), Ellis (1, Colome), Pennington 2 (2, Colome, Texeira).
TB: Davis, R 2; Barton 3; Sweeney 2; Chavez, Er; Ellis 3; Pennington 4.
RBI: Sweeney (3), Barton 4 (5), Pennington (2).
2-out RBI: Barton 2.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Kouzmanoff; Chavez, Er 2; Sweeney; Ellis.
Team RISP: 5-for-13.
Team LOB: 10.
BASERUNNING
SB: Patterson, E (1, 2nd base off Colome/Moore), Pennington (1, 3rd base off Colome/Moore).
FIELDING
E: Barton (2, fielding).
PB: Suzuki, K (1).
Outfield assists: Sweeney (Figgins at 2nd base).
DP: 2 (Sweeney-Pennington, Pennington-Ellis-Barton).
WP: Fister 2, Colome.
Balk: Fister.
IBB: Kouzmanoff (by Fister).
Pitches-strikes: Fister 96-56, Colome 44-30, Texeira 12-7, Anderson 97-60, Gaudin 21-14, Blevins 20-11, Bailey, A 12-7.
Groundouts-flyouts: Fister 5-4, Colome 2-0, Texeira 1-1, Anderson 7-4, Gaudin 0-1, Blevins 1-0, Bailey, A 1-0.
Batters faced: Fister 21, Colome 13, Texeira 6, Anderson 21, Gaudin 6, Blevins 5, Bailey, A 3.
Inherited runners-scored: Gaudin 2-0, Blevins 1-0, Bailey, A 2-1.
Umpires: HP: Mike Muchlinski. 1B: Tim Tschida. 2B: Bob Davidson. 3B: Alfonso Marquez.
Weather: 58 degrees, sunny.
Wind: 11 mph, Out to RF.
T: 2:50.
Att: 12,464.
Compiled by MLB Advanced Media
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