Sam Demel, a product of TCU, has pitched in 22 games so far this year in the minors and boasts a 1.26 ERA. The right hander is expected to give the D-backs relief staff some much needed assistance as the team tried to make the bullpen whole. In 2007 Demel would allow no hits in five straight outings and in 2008 he would rank second in the California League in saves. Demel is expected to join the team on Wednesday in Boston as the D-backs face the Red Sox in interleague play.

To cover Conor’s former spot in the outfield, the D-backs expect to have Abreu step in after returning from the disabled list but, Gerardo Parra is likely to get most of the playing time. Josh Byrnes hinted that there may be more moves to come as the team’s management takes an overall look at the organization on and off the field.

Oakland pitching would prove to be the story as Justin Duchscherer would throw six innings, striking out six of the batters that he faced. Oakland relief would prove to be effective as they were able to keep the wood off of the ball for majority of the remainder of the game. The Athletics beat the Giants by a final score of nine to zero.

Travis Buck, Leake’s former teammate at ASU hit his fourth homer of the spring off his Sundevil friend and was 2-for-4 on the day. Scott Rolen knocked in three runs on the day for the Reds as did Drew Stubbs. Both stubs and Laynce Nix hit a homer for the Reds.

A’s center fielder and leadoff man Coco Crisp went 2-for-4 on the day raising his average to .414. Crisp made his hits count too with a double and homer. Seattle scored it’s first run on a wild pitch and then would score their other two on solo homers by Franklin Gutierrez and Josh Bard.

A’s Jake Fox lead Oakland’s offense going 2-for-3 at the plate with two runs scored and two RBIs on his third homer of the spring. Rockies short stop Troy Tulowitzki went 1-for-3 on the on the day and hit his fourth homer of the spring.

A’s third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff  hit his third homer of the spring in the first inning off Rupe which knocked in three runs. Coco Crisp continued to play well this spring going 2-for-3 on the day with two runs scored and a RBI raising his batting average to above .400. Royals center fielder Mitch Maier was 3-for-5 on the day with two runs scored and 5 driven in.

Both teams would remain scoreless until the ninth inning when the A’s would add some insurance runs to the board. The Athletics’ three runs in the ninth would give them a comfortable lead as the Rangers were only able to score one run in the bottom of the ninth inning. The A’s win it by a score of six to three.

The A’s would score one run to tie the game in the fourth inning as the teams would have two runs a piece. In the top of the ninth inning, outfielder Travis Buck would hit a solo homer to give the A’s the lead. Two more runs would score in that inning for Oakland as they win the game by a score of five to two.

A’s short stop Cliff Pennington had two of the A’s five hits on the day driving in a run and scoring once. Former Sun Devil star Travis Buck went 1-for-2 with a triple and scored Oakland’s  final run of the day. Giants center fielder and leadoff man Aaron Rowand was 2-for-4 on the day with two runs scored and one batted in. Bengie Molina and second baseman Mark DeRosa both knocked in two runs for the Giants.

Oakland would score their first run in the sixth inning as the Dodgers would score once more in the bottom of that inning. The one run in the sixth for the A’s would come off of a Kurt Suzuki solo homer. In the seventh inning, the Athletics would score two more runs to tie the game. No more runs would be scored by either team as the two teams tie the game at three all.