A's Select Okajima from Sacramento; Designate Resop for Assignment

OAKLAND, Calif. - The Oakland A's selected left-handed pitcher Hideki Okajima from Triple-A Sacramento and designated right-handed pitcher Chris Resop for assignment, the club announced today.

Okajima was a non-roster invitee with the A's this spring but began the year at Sacramento. He was 0-1 with a 2.16 ERA and .193 opponents batting average in 14 games with the River Cats. He walked just two while striking out 18 in 16.2 innings. The 37-year-old left-hander held left-handed hitters to a .074 (2 for 27) batting average. Okajima has not allowed a run over his last nine games and 11.0 innings and has stranded all four of his inherited runners over that stretch. This marks Okajima's sixth season in the Major Leagues as he went 17-8 with six saves and a 3.11 ERA in 261 games with Boston from 2007-11. He also pitched for 13 seasons in Japan with Yomiuri (1995-2005), Nippon-Ham (2006) and Soft Bank (2012).

Resop was 1-1 with a 6.00 ERA and .293 opponents batting average in 18 games with the A's. He did not allow an earned run over his first seven games this year, but has surrendered 12 runs over his last 11 games and 11.2 innings for a 9.26 ERA. Resop was acquired by the A's from Pittsburgh Nov. 30, 2012 for minor league pitcher Zach Thornton.