Griffin to pitch Saturday, Anderson on Sunday

OAKLAND -- A.J. Griffin will be returning from the disabled list to pitch for the A's on Saturday. Brett Anderson's start will be pushed back to Sunday. The return of Griffin is yet another boost to the A's starting rotation. He is the first A's rookie to start 3-0 since Rich Harden in 2003. Griffin exited his last big league start with shoulder tightness on August 4. He threw just 32 pitches and was pulled in the second inning with two outs. At the time, he said he had trouble getting his throwing arm loose. He will have missed a total of 24 games for Oakland. Griffin had two rehab appearances with Triple-A Sacramento. He went 1-0 with a 4.90 ERA. His second start went well enough that the A's decided he was ready to return. He threw five innings of one-run ball in Colorado Springs -- a tough place to pitch. "I just knocked the rust off a little bit more," Griffin said. "Got more comfortable, got more confident in my arm being better and stuff."Adding Griffin on September 1 is easy because MLB active rosters expand from 25 men to 40. The A's are confident the righty is ready to return.
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"I think it was performance based and what he has done here to this point too," Melvin said. "It was unfortunate that he went down when he did because he was pitching really consistently for us."Aside from the game he was injured in, Griffin had gone six or more innings and didn't allow more than three runs in any of his first seven starts. He has a 2.42 ERA with Oakland. Griffin's return means the A's can give Brett Anderson a little extra rest. Anderson is 2-0 since returning after a 14 month layoff from Tommy John surgery. "I think it is just a prudent thing to do," Melvin said. "He's come along ways and pitched deep into the games twice. He goes after it pretty hard."Inge-ury Alert:Brandon Inge is here with the A's. He says he is ready to go. With rosters expanding on Saturday it is a safe bet he will be activated. Inge says his shoulder only hurts when making an occasional throw. He says he can play with the shoulder strain no problem. "It doesn't affect anything," Inge said. "That's the bottom line."