It was a given that Brett Anderson would miss at least one start after suffering a strained right oblique during his outing Wednesday, but manager Bob Melvin dropped the bad news Thursday that the left-hander was done for at least the regular season.
Anderson entered Wednesday’s outing 4-1 with a 1.93 ERA in five starts since returning from Tommy John surgery. He’d be the third member of the A’s projected postseason rotation to be lost for the year, joining the suspended Bartolo Colon and the injured Brandon McCarthy. The team has also been without left-hander Dallas Braden all season long.
If Anderson can’t make it back, the A’s would be looking at a top four of Jarrod Parker, Tommy Milone, A.J. Griffin and probably Daniel Straily in the postseason. Everyone in that group is a rookie.
The A’s beat the Tigers 12-4 today, leaving them four games up on the Angels for the second wild card with the Halos playing later tonight. They’re 3 1/2 games back of the Rangers for first place in the AL West.
