--OF Travis Buck is not in a platoon, said manager Bob Geren, who said, "It's the way it's worked out. I don't plan not to play him." Buck, a left-handed hitter, has three plate appearances against left-handed pitchers this year, and has one hit. Lifetime, he is a .270 hitter against left-handers, .264 against righties. Buck got his first at-bat in a week in the ninth inning Tuesday and grounded into a fielder's choice against Yankees closer Mariano Rivera.
--LHP Dana Eveland didn't make it past four innings in his first start at the new Yankee Stadium, allowing nine hits, four walks and four runs in four innings. He also struck out three and threw 99 pitches in his short appearance. --OF Jack Cust's streak of reaching base safely ended at 40 games when he went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts on April 19 at Rogers Centre. The streak was the third longest in Oakland history. Mark McGwire was tops with 62, followed by Rickey Henderson, with a 46-game streak. Cust has two of Oakland's three home runs this season.
BY THE NUMBERS: 3 -- Home runs hit by the A's in the first 12 games of the season, the fewest in the majors. Former Oakland infielder Marco Scutaro hit four home runs in the first 12 games.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "The strangest thing was coming up to the plate and seeing (Jason) Varitek there behind the plate. The last time we did that was in college (at Georgia Tech) in an intrasquad game." -- A's infielder Nomar Garciaparra after facing his former team, the Red Sox, for the first time.
