This is just a quick recap of today's game before the festivities get even better, with the first of three "AN exclusive" interviews scheduled to be posted later today, two more coming within the week...
I had a chance to see Brett Anderson for the first time, and the 21 year old lefty sailed through 4 shutout innings of 3-hit ball. Two things stood out to me. One was that Anderson throws with an easy motion that does not look like "maximum effort," and he only appeared to throw a handful of pitches at maximum velocity. He seems like a relatively low risk for injury and looks like a guy who is capable of saving his best fastball for when he needs it, rather than cranking it up into the 90s all the time. The other notable was that Anderson sawed off a lot of bats, indicating good late movement on his pitches. He didn't look fantastic, and that may be the biggest compliment of all - Anderson can look like he's not doing a whole lot, and then walk away with 4 scoreless innings.
Oakland hit early and often against Jered Weaver (2.1 IP, 6 hits, 3 ER) with 2 in the first and 2 more in the 3rd, led by Nomar Garciaparra's single and double in his first two at bats, a pair of hits by Ryan Sweeney. Oakland kept the beat going against the Angels' bullpen on a mammoth 5th inning HR by Jack Cust (following two at bats in which he struck out), and later a single, double, and three RBI by Daric Barton. All in all, the A's pounded out 14 hits, without Holliday, Giambi, or Chavez in the lineup.
One final note about today's game: Though he hasn't looked all that good this Spring overall, Jerome Williams cruised through the last two innings, six up six down with the ball in the air but once. Chris Schroder also rebounded from a tough last outing, striking out two in a 1-2-3 inning ... much to the delight of his dad, who was sitting behind us.
