Pratt's Instant Replay: Athletics 4, Twins 1

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OAKLAND -- Brett Anderson hadn't stepped on a big league mound since June 5, 2011. He certainly didn't appear to be rusty. Anderson, 24, dominated the Minnesota Twins with seven innings of one-run ball and the A's won 4-1.On a day in which the team introduced Stephen Drew and demoted the previously-deemed "untouchable" Jemile Weeks, Anderson reminded everyone that his return to the mound was the real story with a spectacular performance on the mound.Starting Pitching ReportIt turns out the A's are pretty good at evaluating pitching. They were dead-on when assessing that Anderson was ready for his return. Anderson faced one over the minimum for seven innings. He allowed just four hits, didn't walk a batter, and struck out six.Anderson retired nine batters in a row at once point and induced 13 groundouts and no flyouts. This wasn't just Anderson's first start in 14 months, this was one of the best pitching performances of his career.The only run that he allowed scored when Norris couldn't handle one of Anderson's sliders. It was ruled a wild pitch.Anderson's fastball topped out at 93 mph, and he effectively worked in his slider and curveball. Two of the hits he allowed came against his change-up, the other two were against his slider.Bullpen ReportSean Doolittle pitched a perfect eighth inning. He struck out two batters.Grant Balfour entered in the ninth inning with a 4-1 lead. He notched his 12 save of the season and hasn't allowed a run in 18 of his last 19 outings. Balfour has converted all five of his save opportunities since taking over the team's closer role.In the FieldYou never know what you are going to see at the ballpark on any given day. As they say around these parts, it's hard not to be romantic about baseball. The 13,116 fans in attendance on Tuesday witnessed something special when the A's turned a triple play in the fifth inning.RELATED: A's turn 5-4-3 triple play
Anderson had retired nine batters in a row when he gave up back-to-back singles to start the fifth. With Trevor Plouffe batting, Anderson threw a 77-mph, first-pitch curveball that was hit on the ground to Josh Donaldson, who started the 5-4-3 triple play.
It was the 21st triple play in A's franchise history, the eighth in Oakland history. The A's last triple play was an unassisted triple play handled by Randy Velarde on May 29, 2000 at New York.According to our CSN A's statistician David Feldman, the last time the A's turned a triple play at the Coliseum: July 18, 1983 vs Tigers (Peters to Phillips to Almon to Gross)At the PlateSeth Smith returned from the disabled list after missing 16 games with a strained left hamstring. He drew a walk in his first plate appearance and immediately put his hammy to the test. Josh Donaldson cracked a double to the wall in left field forcing Smith to score all the way from first. Donaldson's double tied the game at one.Smith would later add two singles. He finished the night 2-for-2 with two walks -- one intentional -- and two runs scored.Norris drove Smith home for the go-ahead RBI single in the sixth inning. The A's added two more runs in the seventh inning when Crisp led off with a double down the right field line, and Josh Reddick hit a bloop single to left that barely stayed fair. Chris Carter then drove home Reddick with a double.AttendanceThe A's announced an attendance of 13,116.Dot RaceFor the first time ever the A's Dot Race featured dots that are green, white, and gold. A long-standing A's tradition at the Oakland Coliseum, the dots used to be red, white, or blue. In this brave new era of Dot Racing, gold won.Up NextThe A's will send Tommy Milone (9-9, 4.03 ERA) to the mound. It will be Milone's 24th start of the season. The rookie lefty is 0-3 with a 7.50 ERA in his last four starts. Milone pitched on extra rest in his last outing and looked much better. He made one mistake in his previous start, allowing a grand slam to Shelley Duncan. Strangely, the A's are 2-0 in games that Milone allows a grand slam. He's walked one batter or fewer in each of his last 10 starts.The Twins will counter with Liam Hendriks (0-5, 7.04 ERA). As of Monday, this spot in Minnesota's rotation was listed as "TBD." He has never won a game in the major leagues.

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