Oakland Athletics starter Jarrod Parker threw a successful side session on Wednesday, but the Athletics are erring on the side of caution and pushing his next start to Saturday, according to John Hickey of the San Jose Mercury News.
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"We're going to give him a couple of extra days," manager Bob Melvin told Hickey. According to Hickey, Parker felt fine after throwing on Wednesday, but the team does not want to take any chances with him following the incident. Dan Straily will be called up from the minors to start for Oakland on Thursday against the Cubs in Parker's place.
Parker injured his hamstring pitching against the Cardinals on Saturday. Facing St. Louis' Allen Craig in the fourth inning, Parker fell to the ground following a pitch and clutched his hamstring. He managed several warm-up tosses after the fall, but was unable to remain in the game.
Parker has made 17 starts for the Athletics this season, going 6-6 with a 4.11 ERA over 100 2/3 innings. The 24-year-old was key member of the team's staff last season as a rookie, going 13-8 over 29 starts with a 3.47 ERA in 181 1/3 innings for the Cinderella Oakland club that took the AL West division title on the final day of the season. After a rough start to this season, Parker began find his groove prior to the hamstring injury. In the month of June, he went 3-0 in six starts with a 2.08 ERA that brought his season ERA down to 4.11 from a high of 7.34 in early May.
Parker will start against the Royals on Saturday, pitching against Ervin Santana.
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