--C Kurt Suzuki is hitting .378 with 10 doubles, two homers and 15 RBIs over his past 19 games. He has not struck out in his past six games and is among the league leaders in plate appearances per strikeout. He is looking like the early front-runner to be the A's All-Star representative.
--OF Ryan Sweeney is batting .172 over his past eight games following a team-best 12-game hitting streak, and he was moved from the leadoff spot to sixth in the order on the team's recent homestand. The second-year player is hitting .179 at home and .323 on the road. He is 5-for-21 while batting sixth. --RHP Justin Duchscherer will start throwing off the mound on May 22, according to pitching coach Curt Young. Duchscherer had arthroscopic surgery to clean up his elbow in late March, and the A's are planning to rehab him as a starter, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. He is eligible to come off the DL June 4, but considering he'd need to make several rehab starts, mid-June seems more likely.
BY THE NUMBERS: 101 -- Games since Oakland's last complete game, through May 12. It's a franchise record, topping the previous mark of 96 set from June 21, 1997, to April 10, 1998. Justin Duchscherer threw the team's last complete game on July 8.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "It looked like a ball of cotton candy hanging from my wrist." -- LHP Dallas Braden, who continued to pitch with a severely swollen left hand on Sunday after being hit by a line drive by Vernon Wells.
