A's player watch - Online Sports Betting

Fullabull · 03-30-2002, 08:34 AM

A's watch:
Hudson, who as a senior at Auburn University hit .396 with 18 homers and 95 RBIs on the way to All-America and Southeast Conference Player of the Year honors, was just as pleased with his two-run single off Rueter as he was with his economical outing. "My first time up, I was taking all the way," Hudson said. "I was planning to not swing the bat, because I didn't want to risk a freak injury or anything like that. But the second time, hey, bases loaded, two outs ... I'm hackin'." Asked what pitch he hit, Hudson smiled and said, "Oh man, it was a nasty ol' hard-bitin' slider." Then he fessed up: "OK, it was a fastball. He just kept throwing me fastballs. Maybe he thought I was taking all the way again." ... Hudson said the pitch Bonds hit out was a good fastball on the outer third of the plate. "He's somebody I don't match up with real well," Hudson explained. "I'm a low-ball pitcher and he's a low-ball smacker." ... Rookie 1B Carlos Peña changed from uniform No. 19 to No. 2 before the game. Why? It looks better with his autograph. "Nineteen looked off balance to me," he said. Peña's balance was excellent in the second inning, when he made a nice sweeping tag on Benito Santiago after SS Miguel Tejada's throw from short center field pulled Peña off the bag. ... 3B Eric Chavez has been an extra-base hit machine of late. His two-run double to the wall in right-center during the sixth inning was his seventh double of the spring, and he has five home runs among his 17 hits in Cactus League play. ... Jim Mecir worked a hitless seventh with one walk, Billy Koch struck out two while working a perfect eighth inning, and Matt Miller struck out two in a scoreless ninth. Miller has not allowed a run or a walk in 10 outings this spring; he's allowed eight hits over 13 innings. ... Oakland's 11 hits came from 11 players.

Fullabull · 04-02-2002, 08:31 PM

Randy Velarde got the opening day start at second base for the A's but left the game shortly after being hit by a pitch in the first inning. The A's said that Velarde was taken for X-rays. X-rays were negative.

Fullabull · 04-03-2002, 07:36 PM

Second baseman Randy Velarde, who was hit on his left hand by a pitch in the first inning of Monday's opener and had to leave the game after the second inning, was wearing a neoprene brace Tuesday and said he might be able to return to action as early as Wednesday. "There was a lot of swelling today, and that causes you to lose strength, so I can't grip a bat," he said. "But once the swelling goes down, I'll be fine." A's trainer Larry Davis agreed: "Swinging the bat isn't going to make the injury worse, so as long as Randy can handle the discomfort, when he's ready to go, he can go." Frank Menechino went 2-for-2 with an RBI double and a walk in relief of Velarde on Monday and will play every day until Velarde returns, at which point A's manager Art Howe said the platoon at the position will resume. ... Jermaine Dye, who is on the 15-day disabled list, spent the afternoon in Sacramento, facing minor-league pitching in a simulated game. Still rehabbing a broken left tibia suffered in last year's playoffs, Dye will be back in Oakland on Wednesday for his regular running routine. He's eligible to come off the DL on Saturday, but Howe continues to say that there is no timetable for Dye's return.

Fullabull · 04-07-2002, 11:39 PM

The A's placed Randy Velarde on the 15-day disabled list on Sunday. He suffered his hand injury when he was struck by a pitch last Monday, but the move is retroactive to Friday since he was used as a pinch-runner on Thursday. An MRI on Saturday revealed a fracutre, according to the Associated Press. However, the club isn't sure if it's an old fracture or a new one.