Milone Perfect Through Six In A’s Win (Against Themselves)
(Photo: Annie&John/Flickr)
Athletics: 9 River Cats: 0
Well, not really themselves, but the A’s first game back from Japan was an exhibition game against their AAA team, the Sacramento River Cats. This was a weird one for me, Jarrod Parker was starting for the River Cats and really had hoped he’d have a good outing, but at the same time I really didn’t want the A’s to embarrass themselves and lose to the their own minor league team, or any minor league team for that matter. One of my wishes came true.
The A’s didn’t really hit a lot, they only had 6 hits in seven innings, they just really took advantage of Parker’s inability to find the strike zone and the two errors committed by Grant Green (CF) and Christopher Bostick (2B).
The game only last seven innings due to rain but, in that time Tom Milone threw 6 perfect innings and Andrew Carignan threw 1 clean inning, he did allow 2 walks, but none of the two baserunners crossed home plate.
Lines of the Day:
- Tom Milone: 6 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 6 SO. There’s not much you can really say, Milone was pefect, literally. Including tonight’s game, Milone only has 1 walk in 23.2 innings thrown this spring.
- Josh Donaldson: 2 AB, 3 R, 2 H, 2 RBI, 1 BB. Josh Donaldson had a good night against his “former” team, one of his two hits was also a solo home run.
Ugly Lines of the Day:
- Jarrod Parker: 2 IP, 2 H, 6 R (3 earned), 4 BB, 2 SO, 1 HR. Although only half of the runs Parker allowed were earned, Parker was shaky again tonight. I think it’s safe to assume he will start the season in the minors with Graham Godfrey and Tyson Ross getting the final two slots.
- The River Cats Offense: 21 AB, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 SO. The A’s weren’t much better, but they did managed to score 9 runs on 6 hits.
- After today’s game Bob Melvin announced that Tom Milone will be the A’s third starter. This comes as no surprise as Milone had a pretty decent spring, he went 1-1 in 4 Spring Training games, he allowed 11 hits, 7 earned runs, 1 walk and had 9 strikeouts over 12.2 innings of work.
- Bob Melvin announced before the game that Dallas Braden has had a set back in his recovery and there is no timetable for his return, he had originally planned to make his return in early May, but it sounds like that is not possible. Dallas Braden suffered a shoulder strain while playing catch after his last bullpen session.
- Speaking of injuries, Manny Ramirez strained his calf during work outs in Arizona, along with Dallas Braden, it’s not really known when he can play again, but Manny does have to serve a 50-game suspension, so he has plenty of time to recover before coming to Oakland.
