DLD 6-21 - The Situation is Oblique

A's fans will have an unfortunet break from watching their favorite frustrating team, as the A's are taking the day off before heading to New York to take on the Mets, then flying to Cleveland to see the Indians, the going all the way back to New York to see the Yankees.

But the A's broke the losing habbit, defeating the Redlegs 5-3 and giving Haren his 9th win of the season. Oh yeah, and that Juck Cast guy hit another homerun.

"I didn't have my best stuff, that's for sure," Haren said. "But I knew if I could give us six or seven innings, we'd have a chance to win. We've really picked it up swinging."

At least he wasn't too fine...

Update [2007-6-21 13:13:18 by Zonis]: A'S DESIGNATE MILTON BRADLEY FOR ASSIGNMENT!

OAKLAND, Calif. – The Oakland Athletics announced today the club has designated outfielder Milton Bradley for assignment and has selected infielder Kevin Melillo from Triple-A Sacramento.

Bradley is batting .292 with two home runs and seven RBI in 19 games this season. He had three stints on the disabled list due to various injuries. He was most recently placed on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to June 3 with a strained right calf and was activated for Wednesday’s game against Cincinnati. Bradley had five stints on the DL in his two seasons with the A’s. He missed 51 games due to injury this season, 59 last year, 85 in 2005 and 61 in 2003.

Originally selected in the fifth round of the 2004 First-Year Player Draft, the 25-year old Melillo was batting .267 with 21 doubles, six triples, seven home runs and 40 RBI in 67 games for Sacramento this season, seeing all of his action at second base. He also had a .465 slugging percentage and a .368 on-base percentage.

But some bad news has turned its head around the corner. As people suspected, Chavez reagrivated his rib injury. This right after we sent down Furmainak. I have a feeling this will be Forearm Tendinitis all over again, with Chavez being determined to play through it at cost of even more offensive production, but with the added bonus of hurting on D as well.

Good news? Well, this will help.

Harden's day: Rich Harden worked a scoreless seventh inning for the Sacramento River Cats in their 3-0 victory over Tacoma on Wednesday afternoon. He allowed a double, then set down the next three hitters, one via a strikeout. Harden threw 16 pitches, 12 for strikes.

Geren said it's 90-100 percent certain that Harden, who has been out since April 16 with a shoulder injury, will rejoin the A's on Friday and will be in the bullpen for a while.

How about a back 3 of Harden/Embree/Casilla for the time being? Sounds great to me!

Eric Gilmore is convinced that Beane is a magician with a rabbit farm.

Who knew Chad Gaudin could move from the bullpen and become one of the AL's top starting pitchers? He's 6-2 with a 3.05 ERA.

Who knew minor-league slugger Jack Cust, a Beane trade acquisition, could impersonate Babe Ruth in the bigs? He hit his 10th home run of the season Wednesday, a two-run shot in the fourth.

Who knew rookie outfielder Travis Buck was more than ready to make the jump to the majors? He's hitting .280 with six homers.

Who knew Alan Embree could become a shut-down closer? He converted his eighth save in nine opportunities Wednesday, this one a two-inning job.

Who knew Santiago Casilla could jump from Sacramento to the big leagues and blow hitters away in the late innings? He's 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA.

To be honest, I think AN can be said to have known about at least 4 of the 5, the exception being TPFKAJG.

In other news, Sammy Sosa joins the 600 Club. No word yet as to when the Pat Robertson Plaque of Achievement will be handed out.

It was mentioned on yesterday's broadcast, but note to Broadcasters: Don't make bets you'll regret. But then again, if you can get Joe Kennedy to throw a complete game shutout, maybe you should.

"He made the bet that if I throw a shutout complete game, he would shave his head," Santana told the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

Of course Santana threw a shutout. Wednesday afternoon, he held the clippers in his hand in the Twins' clubhouse.

"Bert looks like he's in prison!" Torii Hunter said afterward.

Notes:
Dodgers right-hander Jason Schmidt had season-ending shoulder surgery and is not expected to return until spring training 2008. Schmidt went 1-4 with a 6.31 ERA in six starts. ... Rangers owner Tom Hicks suspects that two-time American League MVP Juan Gonzalez may have used steroids. "I have no knowledge that Juan used steroids. His number of injuries and early retirement just makes me suspicious," Hicks wrote in an e-mail to the Associated Press on Wednesday. "In any event, we paid him $24 million for very few games." ... Facing a deadline today, lawyers neared an agreement that would lead to a meeting between Jason Giambi and steroids investigator George Mitchell. Attorneys for Major League Baseball and the players' union negotiated for a third straight day to work out a deal that would lead to Giambi becoming the first active player known to speak with Mitchell's staff, several people familiar with the talks said. ... The Cubs traded embattled catcher Michael Barrett and cash to the Padres for backup catcher Rob Bowen and minor league outfielder Kyler Burke. Barrett has had problems defensively and also been involved in two dugout exchanges this month with Cubs pitchers. ... Dontrelle Willis' pitching arm felt better, a day after the Marlins ace was forced to leave a start after one inning because of tightness in his left forearm. ... Marlins right-hander Anibal Sanchez, who pitched a no-hitter against the Diamondbacks last September, will undergo exploratory arthroscopic shoulder surgery today. ... Wilfredo Ledezma was acquired by the Braves from the Tigers for Macay McBride in a swap of left-handed pitchers. ... Red Sox starter Curt Schilling is headed to the disabled list because of soreness in his right shoulder, though an exam found no major damage. Schilling will be placed on the 15-day DL when the Red Sox get to San Diego on Friday for the start of a weekend series. He had returned to Boston for treatment after losing to the Braves 9-4, his first start without a strikeout since 1993. ... Johnny Damon might be headed to the disabled list for the first time in his career. The Yankees outfielder has been bothered since last week by a strained abdominal muscle, which he aggravated Tuesday while taking cuts in the batting cage at Coors Field. ... Chris Carpenter pushed himself in his second bullpen session since elbow surgery, a 50-pitch workout that brought the 2005 NL Cy Young Award winner another step closer to returning to the pitching-starved Cardinals. ... The Astros placed closer Brad Lidge on the 15-day disabled list Tuesday because of a pulled oblique muscle in his left side. ... The Dodgers will reconsider a ban on flags and banners at Dodger Stadium after stadium security members got into a dispute with fans waving a Canadian flag at a June 9 game between Los Angeles and Toronto. ... Andy MacPhail was hired as president of baseball operations for the Orioles, two days after the last-place team fired manager Sam Perlozzo. ... The Indians cut right-hander Roberto Hernandez, placed outfielder David Dellucci on the 15-day disabled list and recalled outfielder Ben Francisco and right-hander Edward Mujica from Triple-A Buffalo. ... Injury plagued Brave Chipper Jones left after the sixth inning because of an ailing groin.