OAKLAND -- A's third baseman Brett Lawrie, who jammed his knee into the bullpen mound during Friday's game, was not in the starting lineup for Saturday's middle matchup with the Astros, despite texting his manager at 1 a.m. that he was good to go.
"We needed to get Brett Lawrie a day off here," said A's manager Bob Melvin. "He's as banged up as anyone we have here. Not DL-banged up, but banged up."
It's the first day off of the season for Lawrie, who was expected to rest sometime last week, before Ben Zobrist's left knee injury forced Melvin to keep his regular third baseman in the lineup.