By DANIEL DULLUM
Sports Radio Service
Saturday, March 15, 2014

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – For Matt Cain, Saturday’s Cactus League outing was just a singular bad day at the office. On the other hand, Tommy Milone may have answered questions about whether or not he’ll secure a spot in the Oakland rotation.

Milone threw five strong innings in an 8-1 split-squad win by the Athletics before another packed Scottsdale Stadium house. Cain, meanwhile, was roughed up for seven runs on six hits in 2 2/3 innings.

“I never found a good rhythm,” Cain said. “I was behind in the count a lot, had a bunch of hitter’s counts, You might make some different pitches during the regular season, but the game situations are the same and you still have to throw strikes.”

Cain walked three, struck out three and hit a batter in addition to surrendering a two run homer to Luke Montz in the first inning and a three-run bomb by Stephen Vogt in the second.

“They (the home runs) were both on fastballs, middle and away,” Cain said, adding that a bad outing in spring doesn’t necessitate “going back to the drawing board.”

“Sure, there are things you’re going to think about,” Cain added. “This is spring and you just have to let it go. … You never expect to go out there and throw bad like that. But it happens, and it’s good to get it out of the way.”

With injuries to Jarrod Parker and A.J. Griffin, Milone (12-9 in 2013) positioned himself with a golden opportunity to step into the A’s rotation. On Saturday, Milone gave up three hits, struck out two and walked two in his fourth appearance of the spring.

“Even when two guys go down, you still have to go out and compete,” Milone said. “This was definitely my best spring outing so far. I was able to go out and establish the strike zone. I worked in the two-seamer (fastball) a lot more and kept the ball on the ground.”

In the other Bay Area split-squad games for Saturday, San Francisco beat Seattle 13-6 and Texas outlasted Oakland 16-15.

CACTUS NEEDLES: Oakland 1B Daric Barton played for the first time since March 8. He’s been hampered by an injured left hamstring. Barton wound up with a single, an RBI, a run and three walks on Saturday. … A’s OF Billy Burns, a non-roster invitee, is tied for the overall Spring Training lead in stolen bases with eight. … The Giants reassigned INF Nick Noonan and OF Roger Kieschnick, optioning both to Triple-A Fresno. Both players will report to the Giants’ minor league camp Monday. … Giants OF Angel Pagan is listed as day-to-day with back stiffness. And OF Michael Morse is expected to be out four to five days with calf tightness. … San Francisco INF Marco Scutaro has yet to appear in a Cactus League game due to a sore back. Scutaro has taken batting practice and grounders the last four days. … A somewhat slimmer 3B Pablo Sandoval is swinging a hot bat this spring for the Giants, going 9-for-26 with a home run and seven RBI in 11 games. …
The Athletics had their first experience with instant replay Thursday night against Colorado. A’s manager Bob Melvin was successful in one of two challenges.