NewsAnderson aiming to follow A's success
Oakland (21-30) at Chicago (25-27), 11:05 a.m. PT
By Mychael Urban / MLB.com
06/04/09 3:00 AM ET
CHICAGO -- The A's have their young starting rotation on a fairly short leash in terms of pitch counts, reluctant to let any of them to eclipse the 110 mark before Wednesday night. Josh Outman set the highest single-game pitch count among the five current starters this season, having thrown 113 over 6 2/3 innings in the A's 5-3 win over the White Sox on Wednesday. Trevor Cahill's max is 105, and Vin Mazzaro was pulled from his brilliant big league debut Tuesday after 105. Left-hander Brett Anderson, who'll work the finale of a four-game series against the White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field on Thursday, threw 109 pitches in his second start of the season but has been allowed to pass the century mark one time since. At 6-foot-4 and a listed weight of 215 pounds, Anderson certainly looks capable of being a throwback to the days when starters routinely threw 130-plus pitches. But while sitting in the visitors' dugout before batting practice Wednesday, he said he understands the thinking behind the theories of arm-protection practiced by most Major League teams. "It's tough for them, because they don't want to work us into the ground," he said, "but it's kind of a Catch-22. There's a lot of games where I know I could go deeper, but if I do and something happens to my arm down the road, people are going to say that's why." A's manager Bob Geren's thoughts exactly. "I've rarely taken a guy out for a pitch count," he said. "Last night, I was going to let Vin go out to 110-112 if the situation allowed for it, but no matter how you do it, someone's going to have a problem. ... There's have been some guys who did go 130, 140 and were fine, but some of them, looking back, did get overused and burned out." Dallas Braden, 25, in the only current A's starter who isn't a rookie, but this is his first full season in a big league rotation. Outman is 24, Mazzaro 22, Cahill and Anderson 21. Anderson figures he might be more comfortable lobbying the coaching staff to let him throw more pitches once he gets more service time under his belt. "I'm under [their direction] right now," Anderson said. "Down the road, I'll probably start telling them when I feel good and say, 'Hey, I'd like to give you a little more today.'" Pitching matchupOAK: LHP Brett Anderson (2-5, 5.70 ERA)
Anderson allowed a career-high six earned runs in four innings Saturday against the host Rangers, and he's 1-2 with a 6.47 ERA on the road. Like the three rookies who started in the first three games of the season, Anderson has never faced the White Sox. CWS: LHP Mark Buehrle (6-1, 2.71 ERA)
One mistake to Miguel Olivo leading off the eighth prevented the White Sox ace from picking up his seventh victory. Olivo's home run on the first pitch of the bottom half of the inning erased a 3-2 White Sox lead, and Buehrle left with a no-decision one out later. Buehrle struck out six over 7 1/3 innings and extended his streak without allowing a walk to 23. Buehrle was 0-2 with a 4.26 ERA last year against Oakland, and he has struggled mightily against the A's overall, with a 3-11 career mark. That record is far and away Buehrle's worst against any one team. Buehrle has a career 41-24 record in day games. Dribblers ...
Outfielder Ryan Sweeney, who slammed into the center-field wall Tuesday night while robbing Paul Konerko of extra bases in the seventh inning, injured his left knee on the play and said it felt worse Wednesday morning. Geren said Sweeney wasn't going to start Wednesday, anyway, but it's unlikely he could have played if needed. Sweeney did not participate in any pregame activity and said a White Sox team doctor was going to examine him at some point during the evening. ... Second baseman Mark Ellis (strained left calf) ran the bases Wednesday and is tentatively scheduled to leave on a Minor League rehab assignment June 15 or 16 and be activated as soon as he's eligible to come off the 60-day disabled list June 28. ... Adam Kennedy has been taking ground balls at third base in preparation for a move to the hot corner when Ellis returns. ... Geren said infielder Nomar Garciaparra (strained right calf) hasn't started running yet, so there's no way he'll be ready to play when he's eligible to return from the 15-day DL next Monday. ... Geren was encouraged by righty reliever Brad Ziegler's two shutout innings Tuesday, praising the deposed closer's efforts to iron out minor mechanical issues. "He's not quite there yet, but he's closer," Geren said. ... The A's announced that John "Blue Moon" Odom, who was scheduled to join former Athletic Jason McDonald as Oakland's representatives at the First-Year Player Draft next week in Seacaucus, N.J., will not be in attendance. An A's spokesman said MLB's owners decided that each team need only one representative, and McDonald was chosen because he is the more-recent Draft pick of the two. Odom represented the A's last year in Orlando, Fla. Tickets
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• Friday: Athletics (Dallas Braden, 4-5, 3.63) vs. Orioles (Jeremy Guthrie, 4-4, 4.86), 7:05 p.m. PT
• Saturday: Athletics (Trevor Cahill, 2-5, 4.33) vs. Orioles (Jason Berken, 1-1, 2.25), 6:05 p.m. PT
• Sunday: Athletics (Vin Mazzaro, 1-0, 0.00) vs. Orioles (Rich Hill, 2-0, 4.15), 1:05 p.m. PT
Mychael Urban is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
