News
Anderson, A's dealing with less rest
Oakland (40-54) at New York (58-37), 4:05 p.m. PT
By Jared Diamond / MLB.com
07/24/09 2:29 AM ET
NEW YORK -- Brett Anderson has responded well to pitching on extra rest. A's manager Bob Geren has given his prized young left-hander at least five days in between his past two starts, and Anderson rewarded the decision by combining to throw 12 scoreless innings. The system thus far has worked perfectly and has served as an easy way to limit the 21-year-old's workload. Too bad Geren doesn't have that luxury this time. The A's are in the middle of a grueling stretch of 28 consecutive games to begin the second half of the season. Thursday was scheduled to be a travel day to break up the marathon, but they had to come to New York early to make up an April 20 rainout. With no off-day until Aug. 13, Geren has no choice but to use Anderson on regular rest, and he will pitch on Friday against the Yankees opposite right-hander Joba Chamberlain.Anderson has been brilliant of late, throwing 21 consecutive scoreless innings. He last allowed a run on June 29 in a win over the Tigers. In his previous start, Anderson had his perfect game broken up by the Angels' Bobby Abreu with two outs in the seventh and ultimately worked eight scoreless frames.
"Nobody's going to get get [extra rest] because of the stretch," Geren said before Thursday's 6-3 loss. "I think that having two different stints of extra rest, he has gotten some nice recovery and he's going to be strong." The rest of the rotation will feel the effects of the schedule as well. The A's need their starters to work deep into games to prevent overusing the bullpen for the next several weeks. Geren acknowledged one of the reasons he left Thursday's starter Vin Mazzaro in for a fifth inning was because he needed length before calling on a reliever. While Anderson and the rest of the pitching staff are going to have to deal with less rest for the next few weeks, the position players are going to be seeing some extra time off. Geren said on Thursday that he plans to sit each of his starters at least once, if not more, throughout the long stretch of games to prevent burning anybody out. Second baseman Adam Kennedy was not in the lineup on Thursday against the Yankees, primarily because Geren wanted mostly right-handed hitters against New York's tough lefty CC Sabathia. Jack Cust was the only left-handed batter who started. Geren said he chose to play Cust over Kennedy because of Cust's ability to hit home runs at the new Yankee Stadium, which is already known for its homers to right and right-center field. Geren has not announced who, if anyone, will sit on Friday, but it is expected that Kennedy will return to the lineup. "We have this long stretch of days, and I told [Kennedy] and some other guys that throughout the stretch, I'm going to try to give you a day here or there to keep everybody going throughout the stretch," Geren said. "[Thursday was] his day -- one of them. I might even do it again." Pitching matchupOAK: LHP Brett Anderson (5-7, 4.25 ERA)
Anderson was perfect his most recent time out -- for 6 2/3 innings, at least. Anderson now has a 21-inning scoreless streak going over his past four starts, holding opponents to a .124 average over that stretch. He surrendered five runs in 5 1/3 innings against the Yankees on April 22 in his third Major League start. With the way he's been rolling lately, odds are Anderson has a different outcome in mind this time. NYY: RHP Joba Chamberlain (5-2, 4.05 ERA)
Chamberlain is coming off his first victory at the new Yankee Stadium, having struck out eight and leading the Yankees to a series sweep of the Tigers in a 2-1 victory on Sunday. Limiting the Detroit offense to only a solo home run -- Clete Thomas' fourth-inning shot -- and three hits through 6 2/3 innings, Chamberlain overcame early command issues and showed huge improvements after returning home to Nebraska to clear his mind over the All-Star break. He won for the first time since June 24 in Atlanta and had allowed seven or more hits in each of his past five starts. This will be Chamberlain's first 2009 start against the Athletics. Tidbits
Backup catcher Landon Powell, who left Wednesday's game with a left hamstring sprain, went through a series of hitting and short running drills on Thursday, and the A's hope he will be available sometime this weekend, possibly as soon as Friday. ... Injured pitcher Justin Duchscherer is scheduled to throw on Sunday for Class A Stockton in San Jose, Calif. ... The A's have now lost seven straight against the Yankees, dating back to June 12, 2008. ... Nomar Garciaparra went 2-for-4 on Thursday to improve his career batting average against the Yankees to .331. That marks the second-highest average against New York, behind Alex Rodriguez (.334). Tickets
Buy tickets now to catch the game in person.
On the Internet
MLB.TV
Gameday Audio• Gameday
• Official game notes On television
• CSNCA-HD On radio
• KTRB 860, KDIA 1640 (Español) Up next
• Saturday: Athletics (Gio Gonzalez, 1-2, 9.33) at Yankees (Andy Pettitte, 8-5, 4.62), 10:05 a.m. PT
• Sunday: Athletics (Dallas Braden, 7-8, 3.40) at Yankees (Sergio Mitre, 1-0, 4.76), 10:05 a.m. PT
• Monday: Athletics (Trevor Cahill, 6-8, 4.50) at Red Sox (Josh Beckett, 11-4, 3.42), 4:10 p.m. PT
Jared Diamond is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
