News
Anderson's seven strong leads Athletics
Oakland's three sacrifice flies enough to get past Twins
By Tyler Mason / MLB.com
09/12/09 6:16 PM ET
MINNEAPOLIS -- Oakland pitcher Brett Anderson watched fellow rookie starter Clayton Mortensen hold the Minnesota Twins to just one run in six innings in Friday's 12-5 victory. Less than 24 hours later, it was the left-handed Anderson looking every bit like a seasoned veteran. The 21-year-old went seven strong innings and allowed just two runs in the A's 4-2 victory Saturday. Anderson's second consecutive win helped clinch the series for Oakland, who has not lost a series since Aug. 24-26 against Seattle. "Brett Anderson was fantastic," A's manager Bob Geren said. "They've got a really good lineup up and down. To hold them to that kind of run [total] is a pretty good feat, especially for a young kid 21 years old." Anderson contained Minnesota's big left-handed bats of Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau and Jason Kubel to just one hit -- a double down the left-field line by Mauer in the fourth that ultimately turned into one of the Twins' two runs on the day. "The one that Mauer hit couldn't have been any closer to the line," Anderson said. "Any time you hold those guys to one hit, it kind of limits your offense. I felt pretty good about it." While Anderson was limiting Minnesota's bats, the A's offense took advantage of control issues by Twins starter Jeff Manship (0-1), who walked three batters and also hit Rajai Davis before leaving in the fourth with two runners on. With the game knotted at 2, Manship's final two walks in the top of the fifth proved to be costly. Eric Patterson led off the inning with a walk and later stole second. Cliff Pennington followed Patterson with a walk, ending Manship's day. Adam Kennedy then walked to load the bases, and back-to-back sacrifice flies by Davis and Kurt Suzuki brought in Patterson and Pennington to give Oakland a 4-2 lead. The patience at the plate was certainly a change from Friday's home run derby, but the end result was the same for the A's. "You're not going to hit homers all the time," said Kennedy, who singled and walked twice. "Getting those runs in is going to win you games more than the long ball, probably." "The way this game is, the night before is long gone by the time you come to the park the next day," Pennington said. "You just try and have a good approach every at-bat. Some days you get hits, some days you get walked." It was Pennington's double off Manship in the second that gave the A's an early 2-0 lead. After a Patterson sac fly scored Mark Ellis, Pennington doubled to right to score Daric Barton, who had a two-bagger of his own earlier in the inning. Pennington, who played against Manship as a high schooler in Texas, reached base in all four of his at-bats on a walk and three hits, one night after homering and walking twice. "Pennington is doing a tremendous job," Geren said. "He's had an opportunity to play every day. He's making the most of it, for sure." Anderson (9-10) finished the day with four strikeouts and two runs on five hits. He faced the minimum number of batters in five of the seven innings he pitched. "We're pretty confident with Brett on the hill every time he's out there," Kennedy said. "I got some strikeouts when I needed to and limited the damage," Anderson said. "It's a pretty good day for me." Having now taken two consecutive games from the Twins, the A's have played the role of spoiler by beating a Minnesota team struggling to stay alive in the American League Central. They'll have that same opportunity next series when they head to Arlington to take on the Texas Rangers, a team chasing the Boston Red Sox in the AL Wild Card race. "We've got a lot of young guys on this team that are trying to prove themselves," Pennington said. "We're trying to prove that we belong here. I think that and the combination of the chance to knock off some teams that are in the postseason hunt, builds confidence in our young team being able to play with these guys."Tyler Mason is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
