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Wednesday, Mar 22, 2006

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Posted on Sun, Mar. 12, 2006

A'S NOTEBOOK

Pitchers' inaction worries Macha

RAIN POSTPONES CROSBY'S RETURN

By Rick Hurd

Knight Ridder

PHOENIX - Nobody is going to accuse A's Manager Ken Macha of being unpatriotic, but he wasn't entirely thrilled with the rout his home country put on South Africa in the opening round of the World Baseball Classic on Friday.

Team USA crushed the novice baseball nation 17-0 to advance to the second round. That wasn't the problem. That the game was called after five innings because of the mercy rule was, for it meant that A's closer Huston Street did not pitch an inning as scheduled.

``There's a little concern there,'' Macha said. ``I'm not sure how that's going to affect things for their schedule.''

There's concern elsewhere, too.

Fellow reliever Kiko Calero, who is playing for Puerto Rico, also was scheduled to pitch and met the same fate. Puerto Rico blasted Cuba 12-2 in a game called after six innings.

Macha has expressed concern since before the tournament about the preparations his pitchers would receive for the regular-season opener April 3 against the New York Yankees.

Starter Esteban Loaiza is also participating in the WBC; he pitched five shutout innings in a 9-1 win for Mexico against Canada on Thursday.

Street pitched one inning, needing only 17 pitches, during a 2-0 win over Mexico in the U.S. opener. Calero threw 10 pitches during his one-inning stint in Puerto Rico's 2-1 win over Panama.

``I have a lot of faith in (U.S. pitching coach) Marcel Lachemann,'' Macha said, when asked if he felt the need to place a call to U.S. Manager Buck Martinez. ``I'm sure he'll do what's right.''

The United States, Puerto Rico and Mexico all advanced to the second round, which begins today. The United States plays Japan and Mexico plays Korea in Anaheim, while Cuba faces Venezuela and Puerto Rico squares off against the Dominican Republic in San Juan.

• The Giants were scheduled to make the 15-minute trip from Scottsdale for their initial appearance against the A's this spring, and Barry Bonds was expected to be in the starting lineup to add to the attraction. So naturally, it rained in Phoenix for the first time since Oct. 18, forcing the first cancellation of a spring game for the A's since March 16, 1993.

``It would've been a good day,'' said A's President Mike Crowley, adding that 7,500 tickets had been sold. ``Unfortunately, Mother Nature didn't cooperate. The field's wet. We looked at the radar and there was no window.''

The cancellation postponed the spring debut of Bobby Crosby at shortstop. Crosby has been increasing the distance on his throwing in recent days, and he threw from across the diamond Thursday.

Dan Haren, whose scheduled start was washed out, will pitch today in a split-squad game against the Los Angeles Angels.

Macha said Haren likely will make his next appearance three days later to get him back in his proper spot in the rotation.

• Outfielder Bobby Kielty, who strained a muscle in his right side while swinging a bat Friday, said he doesn't believe the injury is serious.

Kielty sustained a similar injury last season and missed three weeks.

• Left-hander John Rheinecker, who originally was scheduled to start one of the games today, was scratched because of a throat infection.

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