Sigh.

By JANIE McCAULEY
 AP Sports Writer

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Huston Street has a slight muscle strain on the right side of his chest that will keep the Oakland closer out of action at least through Friday.

The reigning AL Rookie of the Year felt tightness beneath the armpit area of his throwing arm on the third-to-last pitch he threw during his save for the Athletics on Tuesday night against the Detroit Tigers, the fourth outing in five days for the right-hander.

The A's are taking no chances that this could become serious, though Street said he is virtually pain-free now. If it were later in the season he would probably pitch through it.

The battle of the Twinkies vs. Cupcakes did not have a sweet ending for the A's.

But Blanton has no fear after his outing at the Terrordome.

"That's the way it goes sometimes," Blanton said. "Maybe in the Seattle series the ball was going right to the infielders. Maybe in the next series they'll hit line drives right at people. That's the way baseball works."
Jay Witasick, however, does have cause for concern: his  injured ankle, which (FIRE) Macha (NOW!!!) is not optimistic about.
Witasick was taken to a hospital for X-rays, which revealed a sprain. Manager Ken Macha did not paint a rosy picture of Witasick's condition, saying: "It's not good. He has significant swelling. It's either a pretty bad sprain or a fracture. He's not going to be available for some time."

And hopefully this (last paragraph) is nothing to be worried about:

Eric Chavez tweaked his hamstring in the game and was replaced in the seventh inning, but he is expected to be ready for Friday's game.

Our favorite general manager talks with Colin Cowherd.


secret ASian man posted a diary Sunday asking if the A's are purposely not wearing their road grays with "Oakland" on the front. The Mercury News asks the same thing.


In non-A's news: A grand jury is investigating whether Barry Bonds committed perjury.

And Chuck Klosterman gives his take on the Bonds saga.

It is not a problem the way global warming is a problem, nor is it a problem the way throat cancer is a problem. But it's a problem for anyone who considers sports to be a meaningful prism through which to understand life and culture.

Those crazy kids at the Onion say Dusty Baker is trying to get the Cubs back to their losing ways. The story includes this great sidebar:

Today's installment of the Daily Link Dump has been brought to you by an insomniac attention whore whose friends and family have abandoned her for some thing called sleep.

If I say that enough times, will yesterday's loss go away?

Adam Melhuse gives an in-depth analysis of what went wrong in Esteban Loaiza's debut:

"It's kind of a no-brainer," Melhuse said. "When you don't hit your spots, you're going to get hit."

In case you hadn't heard, that Felix kid is kinda good. Even one out of one manager polled for this story agrees.






Milton Bradley is fitting in on the field and off.

"Sometimes you play on teams that stick together," he said. "Certain teams form cliques. It's not really that way here. I've been on teams where a lot of Latin guys hang together, a lot of white guys hang together. I'm usually the only brother, so I'm by myself. It's nice here because everybody gets together and laughs and jokes and plays cards. I heart this team.

Also in that article is an update on Bobby Crosby.
Shortstop Bobby Crosby tested his injured left finger by hitting in the indoor cage before the game. He said the session went well and it's possible he could return sooner than the projected week he was expected to miss.
And Susan Slusser reports that Crosby is now wearing "just a big Band-Aid." Band-Aid? It's well past time for full body armor.

Dave Del Grande of the Oakland Tribune says FIRE ZITO NOW! Or a trade would suffice.

Scott Miller at SportsLine.com tells us what we already know: Marco! Scutarto! is a stud.

The streak is dead. I was rooting for you, Jimmy. But now this is one more thing I'll have to listen to Phillies fans complain about.

R.A. Dickey gives up six homers to the Tigers. So how's that rotation working out, Texas?



Eric Gagne will have surgery again.

Like most people, Jose Guillen does not appreciate being hit with a baseball.