One of the reasons the A's offense struggled in the early going: the left-handed heavy Oakland lineup faced lefty starters 10 times in the first 15 games and the team went 2-10 in those games. Nomar Garciaparra, acquired to be the A's primary right-handed bat off the bench, was unavailable much of that stretch because of calf tightness, and he hit .188 against lefties in the six games he did play against them.
PLAYER NEWS: --OF Travis Buck has a 124-game errorless streak to begin his major-league career and he's closing in on the third-longest streak by an Oakland A's outfielder. Johnny Damon had a 126-game streak with the A's in 2001. Buck went more than a week between starts while the A's faced six left-handers in a row, but he is expected to be in the lineup at least eight of the next 10 games.
--LHP Brett Anderson, who will be making his fourth big-league start Tuesday at Texas, has struggled in the early portions of games, with a 13.50 ERA over the first two innings of games and a 2.19 ERA afterward. Opponents have batted .385 against Anderson the first time through the lineup and .234 afterward.
--INF Nomar Garciaparra is batting .237 to open the season and April is the only month in which he has a career average below .300 (.297). After missing a week with calf tightness, Garciaparra provided four RBIs in the past two games, helping the A's take the weekend series against Tampa Bay.
MEDICAL WATCH:
LHP Dallas Braden (groin) left the April 26 game and is day to day.
3B Eric Chavez (strained right elbow) missed the April 26 game. If he can't play on April 28, he is expected to see a doctor for more tests.
1B Jason Giambi (hamstring) sat out the April 24 game, but he returned to action April 25.
INF Nomar Garciaparra (right calf tightness) left the April 14 game and did not play April 15. He played April 17 but was out again April 18-22. He played DH on April 24, then started at third base on April 25.
RHP Justin Duchscherer (arthroscopic elbow surgery in March 2009) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to March 27. There is a chance that when he is able to throw off the mound, he will be moved into the bullpen to try to safeguard his health. He is expected to return in early May.
OF Ben Copeland (sprained left shoulder) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to March 27. Copeland is a Rule 5 draftee from the Giants.
RHP Joey Devine (sore right elbow) went on the 60-day disabled list retroactive to March 31. He had Tommy John surgery April 21, and he is out for the season.
ROTATION:
LHP Dallas Braden
RHP Trevor Cahill
LHP Dana Eveland
LHP Brett Anderson
LHP Josh Outman
BULLPEN:
RHP Brad Ziegler (closer)
RHP Russ Springer
RHP Santiago Casilla
RHP Michael Wuertz
RHP Dan Giese
RHP Andrew Bailey
CATCHERS:
Kurt Suzuki
Landon Powell
INFIELDERS:
1B Jason Giambi
2B Mark Ellis
SS Orlando Cabrera
3B Eric Chavez
INF Nomar Garciaparra
INF Bobby Crosby
INF Jack Hannahan
OUTFIELDERS:
LF Matt Holliday
CF Ryan Sweeney
RF Travis Buck
DH Jack Cust
OF Rajai Davis
