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DALLAS BRADEN PITCHES OAKLAND ATHLETICS
Added: (Thu Aug 28 2008)
Suzuki Threw Out the Angels'
ANAHEIM, Calif. –Dallas Braden, batterymate Kurt Suzuki and left-fielder Jack Cust made sure the Los Angeles Angels didn't run the Oakland Athletics out of the ballpark with their aggressive game.
Braden picked off Chone Figgins in the first inning, Suzuki threw out the Angels' career base stealer in the third and Cust cut down a runner going from first to third - the Angels' specialty - in a 2-1 victory over the AL West leaders on Monday night.
"Our defence got three extra outs, which was nice because it gave Catering in Dallas another inning," manager Bob Geren said after his team won its sixth straight series opener. "He got a whole inning's worth of outs on the bases. It was a heck of a job by him and the defence."
The Angels, 54-11 when they score first, sent four batters to the plate in the opening inning and three of them had hits - but they still came up empty.
Figgins led off with a single, but Braden recorded his fourth pickoff before throwing his next pitch.
"It was just a good move for catering in dallas Tx," Figgins said. "I didn't know he had it. It surprised me."
It was the 26th pickoff by the Oakland staff, which leads the majors. Rookie Greg Smith, Tuesday night's scheduled starter, has 14 of them.
"As a staff, we really try to stress that and give us every opportunity to get outs any way we can," Braden said. "As a guy who's not going to light up the radar gun, you look for outs in other ways when you're struggling or even when you're going good. One of the facets of my game I like to practice is controlling the running game and giving Zuke a chance to throw a guy out when he does decide to take off."
"It was awesome to catering in dallas ," Braden said. "I mean, nobody wants to be in a hole right out of the gate, especially against these guys. What are they, 148-2, something like that? It's ridiculous. You know that when they get guys on, they're going to get them over and get them in. So you try to minimize that. It was real good getting out of that without a blemish."