OAKLAND - The A's officially welcomed John Axford back into their bullpen fold Sunday, and they got some encouraging news about another reliever.
Sean Doolittle was expected to only throw a flat-ground session before the series finale against Boston, but he wound up throwing 15 pitches off the mound as well. That's the first time Doolittle has thrown from the mound since joining the disabled list May 3 with a strained left shoulder. Next up is a 25-pitch session off the mound Wednesday.
The early indications are that Doolittle's current shoulder woes aren't as severe as the ailments that sidelined him for major portions of the past two seasons.
Axford was reinstated from the 10-day DL Saturday for his own shoulder strain, but his season debut came Sunday, when he handled the eighth inning and allowed one run. He was sidelined during the season-opening series against the Angels when he hurt his shoulder while warming up in the bullpen.
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All indications are that first baseman Yonder Alonso will be available to return to the lineup Tuesday for the opener of a two-game interleague series against the Miami Marlins. A's manager Bob Melvin said before Sunday's game that he considered Alonso as potentially being available off the bench. Given the A's are off Monday, it's reasonable to assume Alonso will be ready Tuesday when the Marlins start right-hander Jose Urena on the mound.
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The A's are plenty familiar with Red Sox first baseman Mitch Moreland from his days with division rival Texas. But Moreland continues to do damage against Oakland even though he's out of the AL West. Moreland's two-run homer in the sixth off Andrew Triggs marked his third homer of the four-game series, and his 19th homer in 80 career games against the A's. That's his most homers against any major league club.
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The run Axford allowed in the eighth snapped a streak of 27 scoreless innings at home by the A's bullpen. Josh Smith allowed five runs in the ninth.
