The Oakland Athletics made three transactions Friday afternoon in preparation for their weekend series with the Boston Red Sox. The two teams have a doubleheader scheduled for Saturday as Hurricane Irene threatens and thus some additional arms are needed. In order to prepare for the doubleheader, the A’s have called up Jerry Blevins and Josh Outman. Additionally, on Saturday the team will officially call up Graham Godfrey to start the second game of the doubleheader.
The A’s struggled through Thursday’s series finale with the Yankees as they were bombed 22-9 in a video-game style loss. Jordan Norberto and Bruce Billings were two of the key culprits in Thursday’s loss as they gave up a combined 11 runs in two innings of work. They have been sent down and for now it looks like Josh Outman and Jerry Blevins will both be working primarily in relief.
Blevins has been working as a relief pitcher his entire career while Outman has worked primarily as a starter. Nonetheless, it sounds like Outman will be coming out of the bullpen for now. With the Rivercats season fast coming to an end, Outman will likely get an extended opportunity up in Sacramento.