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After dominating the Houston Astros on Friday night, A's starting pitcher Dan Straily got the typical pats on the back and fist pounds from his teammates, and then was demoted to AAA Sacramento to make room for veteran starter Bartolo Colon in the Oakland rotation. Straily knew the move was going to happen, but it's still a little surprising to see a pitcher get sent to the minors after striking out 11 in 6 2/3 innings without a walk and getting 25 swings and misses in the process.
Straliy led the minor leagues in strikeouts in 2012, but struggled over seven starts in the majors last year. The A's have a crunch of starting pitching after re-signing Colon, and even ended up dealing Travis Blackley, who made 15 starts for the team last year, to the Astros at the end of Spring Training. Straily could probably still use a little bit of time at AAA to refine his game, but will likely be the first man to get the call from the minors in case of an injury in the Oakland rotation, which also features Brett Anderson, Jarrod Parker, Tommy Milone, and AJ Griffin in addition to the veteran Colon.
