The A's have used 14 rookies this year, and as impressive as outfielders Ryan Sweeney and Carlos Gonzalez have been, reliever Brad Ziegler is the best story of the bunch.
Ziegler didn't get to the big leagues until the end of May, at the age of 28. He's had two skull fractures in the last several years, and he wasn't ever considered a hotshot prospect at any point. Then A's bullpen coach Ron Romanick began to work with Ziegler on throwing submarine-style before the 2007 season. They spent a month working on the mechanics, and the results were immediate -- Ziegler was the team's top minor league reliever in 2007.
Now he has set a record for the longest scoreless streak to start a major league career -- 27 innings. That tops a mark that stood for more than 100 years, George McQuillan's 25 scoreless innings for the Phillies in 1907. The Hall of Fame requested Ziegler's shoes and hat from Sunday's record-setting game.
"I've never had anything handed to me in my career, and that makes this even more satisfying," said Ziegler, who was pitching in the independent Northern League in 2004.
ROYALS 4 A'S 2: Dallas Braden, making his second start of the season Monday, didn't fare as well as he did the last time out. He gave up two two-run homers, one by Jose Guillen in the first, the other by Alex Gordon in the sixth. Oakland got RBI from rookie outfielders Carlos Gonzalez and Ryan Sweeney, and second-year catcher Kurt Suzuki had three hits and scored a run.
