On an emotional evening at the Oakland Coliseum, Brett Anderson made his big-league debut, and it was an unusual one.
Anderson's line -- six innings, seven hits, five runs -- doesn't accurately describe his evening. The 21-year-old left-hander had five relatively smooth innings and one poor one in which only two balls were struck well. With one out in the second, Anderson walked Ken Griffey Jr. Jose Lopez singled to center, and then Russell Branyan loaded the bases with a bloop to left. Kenji Johjima knocked a grounder through the left side, scoring Griffey, and Yuniesky Betancourt ripped a double to left to send in Lopez and Branyan. Endy Chavez hit a grounder just past second baseman Mark Ellis, driving home Johjima and Betancourt.
Anderson got a double-play ball from Franklin Gutierrez to end the inning, then retired the next seven men in a row.
Friday night was the team's home opener, and the A's paid tribute to the four Oakland police officers killed last month and also recognized Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart, who died in a automobile crash early Thursday morning. Anderson knew Adenhart from Team USA; Anderson was part of the Olympic team, and Adenhart was on the Olympic qualifying team.
The A's will wear OPD patches on their uniforms throughout the season to honor the fallen officers.
MARINERS 5, A'S 4: Oakland went 1-for-10 with men in scoring position and stranded 14 runners. Matt Holliday, who'd come up empty with the bases loaded twice earlier in the game, had Oakland's only hit with runners in scoring position, an RBI double in the sixth. Brett Anderson, 21, made his big-league debut for Oakland and gave up five runs in the second inning, though Seattle hit the ball hard only twice in the inning.
