NewsA's tame Tigers to end five-game skid
Anderson cools down Detroit with help from Ellis, Sweeney
By Mychael Urban / MLB.com
06/30/09 1:36 AM ET
OAKLAND -- Spend enough time in the company of Brett Anderson and you quickly realize that his default demeanor is that of a tow-truck driver changing his 1,200th flat tire of the year.Were there a Brett Anderson instant-message emoticon, it wouldn't just be expressionless. It'd just be a yellow circle; nothing more, nothing less.
So it was no surprise when Oakland's prized rookie lefty considered the modicum of excitement and relief surrounding his start Monday night and seemed to wonder what all the fuss was about.
Having worked 5 1/3 solid innings in his first outing since June 20, leading the A's to a 7-1 victory over the visiting Tigers in the opener of a three-game series, Anderson couldn't have been less impressed with himself.
Thus, it was left to Detroit's resident sage, manager Jim Leyland, to assess Anderson's work, which featured four hits and four walks that were mostly offset by seven strikeouts.
"He's got a really good arm ... a power arm," Leyland said. "He was effectively wild. You don't see many left-handers like him. He was very good. He was very impressive."
As was second baseman Mark Ellis, who homered in his second game since coming off the 60-day disabled list to help the A's snap a five-game losing streak. Oakland also avoided slipping 13 games under .500 for the first time since last September.
Ellis, who batted .162 (6-for-37) during a 10-game rehab assignment while working his way back from a strained left calf, was activated Sunday.
"I could care less what my numbers were," Ellis said. "I just wanted to see as many pitches as possible."
In his return game against the Rockies, Ellis went 1-for-4 with a double and hit what would have been the game-tying double if his ninth-inning shot down the left-field line hadn't hooked about four inches foul.
On Monday, Ellis hooked another ball down the same line with a runner on in the fifth off Detroit phenom Rick Porcello. This one stayed up and fair and went out, giving Anderson a 4-0 lead that grew to 5-0 later in the frame.
"Those runs," Anderson said, "allowed me to settle down."
If Anderson settles down any further, he'll be sleep-walking.
Ellis isn't much for conversational animation, either, but he's clearly jazzed about how he feels at the plate, and he knew he was where needed to be when he flew out -- a hard shot to to center field -- in the third inning against Porcello, a 20-year-old righty who spent last season in Class A ball.
"He's got good stuff; he's going to be a good pitcher in this league for a long time," Ellis said of Porcello, who is two wins from becoming the first rookie to win 10 games before the All-Star break since World War II.
"But after my first at-bat today -- he's got a really good sinker, and I squared that ball to center up really good -- I knew I was locked in."
Anderson, who was given four extra days of rest after complaining of fatigue and biceps tightness in his left arm following his previous start, didn't exactly look locked in when he issued consecutive walks with two out in the top of the first.
But he wiggled out of that jam and any trouble that followed until the Tigers finally got to him in the bottom of the sixth. He left the game with one out and two runners on, both having reached via walk, before righty reliever Michael Wuertz gave up Gerald Laird's RBI double with two out.
"It feels good," Anderson, 21, said of his arm. "I threw [107] pitches, so we'll see how it bounces back tomorrow."
Anderson's first win since June 4 didn't feature much suspense. Although Porcello didn't encounter much trouble early, the A's put an abrupt end to his evening with rallies in the fourth and fifth innings.
After a single by Matt Holliday and a walk to Jason Giambi in the fourth, Kurt Suzuki opened the scoring with a double before Ryan Sweeney sent Giambi home with a single. Ellis' homer in the fifth was followed by a single from Adam Kennedy, who took third when Orlando Cabrera extended his hitting streak of 12 games on a single of his own.
Holliday's run-scoring grounder sent Porcello packing with his shortest outing since late April.
Sweeney made it 6-0 with his third homer of the year, a leadoff shot in the bottom of the sixth off lefty Fu-Te Ni, who was making his big league debut. Holliday singled, stole second base and scored on an infield error in the bottom of the seventh to close the scoring.
About the only thing that didn't go Oakland's way was a botched double steal to end the second inning with Landon Powell at the plate. Jack Cust was at first, Suzuki at third, and Cust got such a good jump that Tigers catcher Laird had no play and decided to throw out a what-the-heck fake to second.
Suzuki bit. Suzuki was out.
"Two out, two strikes, a guy hitting .200 ... take a chance," said A's manager Bob Geren.
When the worst thing to happen is your lumbering Babe Ruth lookalike gets a great jump on a stolen-base attempt, you know it's been a good night.
"It's just good to get a win," Sweeney said. "We haven't had one in a while."
Mychael Urban is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
