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Orioles-Athletics Preview

Apr 18, 2010 - 1:04 AM By JEFF MEZYDLO STATS Senior Writer

Baltimore (1-10) at Oakland (8-4), 4:05 p.m. EDT

As the Baltimore Orioles' early season misery continues to grow, facing Oakland's budding star Brett Anderson might not help it subside.

Coming off another heartbreaking defeat, the Orioles look to avoid a 10th straight loss overall and at Oakland when they conclude a four-game set with the surging Athletics on Sunday.

Off to its worst start since going 0-21 in 1998, Baltimore (1-11) was on the verge of snapping its eight-game skid until Ryan Sweeney's two-run single in the ninth gave Oakland a 4-3 win Saturday.

"You'd have to be in here living it and seeing it to believe it," said manager Dave Trembley, whose team has lost six games decided by two runs or less this season. "This is not easy."

Baltimore already has three losses when leading in the ninth inning.

The A's (9-4), meanwhile, are off to their best start since 1992, and are surprisingly atop the AL West.

Since dropping two in a row at Seattle, the A's have been able to rebound at the expense of the Orioles, who haven't won in Oakland since July 22, 2007. Baltimore's been outscored 47-20 during its nine-game skid there.

Baltimore had nine hits Saturday after holding a players-only meeting, but continued to struggle to drive in runs. The Orioles went 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position, dropping them to a major league-worst 11 for 87 on the season.

The Orioles' lineup will likely be a little weaker if Miguel Tejada is unable to play. The veteran infielder had three hits Saturday, but left after he injured his groin sliding headfirst into first base.

Tejada could be added to an injury list that already includes second baseman Brian Roberts (abdominal), left fielder Felix Pie (shoulder), closer Michael Gonzalez (shoulder) and reliever Koji Uehara (hamstring).

Even with Tejada, the Orioles were to be in for a challenge when facing Anderson (1-0, 0.00) for the first time.

Making his first start since agreeing to a $12.5 million, four-year contract extension this week, the 22-year-old Anderson has not allowed a run over 12 innings in two starts this season.

"There's no question that (Anderson has) a chance to be one of the elite pitchers in the league," general manager Billy Beane told the A's official website. "He was certainly was only going to become more expensive."

The new contract and strong start has Anderson excited about the prospects for continued success in his second major league season.

"I'm just overall excited about it," said Anderson, who allowed six hits and struck out six in six innings of a 3-0 loss at Seattle on Tuesday.

Sweeney has provided plenty of excitement for Oakland. The versatile outfielder had two hits with three RBIs on Saturday, and has hit safely in all 12 games he's played.

"I'm not too worried about hitting streaks," Sweeney said. "As long as we're winning it doesn't really matter to me."

Sweeney and the A's look for their third consecutive home sweep of the Orioles when they face Brian Matusz (1-0, 4.38) for the first time.

After giving up two runs in five innings at Tampa Bay to earn the Orioles' lone victory April 8, the 23-year-old left-hander allowed four and struck out eight in 7 1-3 innings of an 8-6, 10-inning loss to the Rays on Tuesday.

"This guy is going to be good for a long time," Rays manager Joe Maddon told the Orioles official website of Matusz, who took a 3-0 lead into the eighth inning of his last start. "He has a lot of weapons, he's poised, he gets good hitters out."