Kirk Saarloos #31

Full name KIRK CRA IG SARLOS ...Resides in Sammamish, Washington...Married, wife's name is Kristen...Has a boy, Brady (6/14/2007)...Led Cal State Fullerton to a College World Series appearance in 2001, when he was 15-2 with a 2.18 ERA in 25 games (18GS)...Tossed 7CG/4SHO...Was a first-team All-America selection by Collegiate Baseball, The Sporting News and ABCA...Was also a National Player of the Year candidate by several outlets in 2001, won the Dick Howser Trophy and the Rotary Smith Award...Earned Big West Pitcher of the Year honors...Four-year totals with Titans included a 33-12 record and a 2.96 ERA with 358 strikeouts in 344IP...Was 3-0 with four saves and an 0.34 ERA for the 2000 USA National Team...Is a graduate of Valley Christian High School in Cerritos, CA...Selected in the third round (86th overall) by the Astros in the June 2001 draft...Name is pronounced SAHR-lohs.

2008

Spent most of the season in the starting rotation at Triple-A Sacramento where he was 9-4 with a 4.22 ERA in 22 games, all starts...Also went 1-0 with a 5.47 ERA in eight games, one start, over two stints with Oakland...Was selected for the first time on April 14 and posted a 2.35 ERA in two relief appearances before he was designated for assignment on April 23...Returned for a second time on August 18 and spent the remainder of the season with the A's, going 1-0 with a 6.75 ERA in six games, one start...Allowed a .330 opponents batting average with Oakland, which included a .283 (17 for 60) mark against right-handed hitters and .385 (20 for 52) against left-handers...Tossed at least 3.0 innings in four of his seven relief appearances...Pitched 5.2 innings of relief on April 17 against Seattle, his longest outing ever as a reliever...Allowed a career high 12 hits in 5.0 innings of relief on August 29 against Minnesota...That tied the Oakland record for most hits by a reliever, set by Paul Lindblad on April 19, 1973 at Kansas City...At Sacramento, he led the River Cats in innings pitched (140.2), tied for the team lead in games started (22) and ranked second in wins (9)...His 4.22 ERA was eighth best in the A's farm system and eighth lowest in the Pacific Coast League...Allowed a .272 opponents batting average, which included .266 (73 for 274) against right-handed hitters and .277 (77 for 278) against left-handers.

2006

For the Athletics went 6-6, 4.88 in 16 starts and 1-1, 4.35 with 2 saves in 19 relief apps...Oak went 8-8 in his starts...converted 2 of his 3 save opps...became only the second A's pitcher since 1985 to make at least 15 starts and 15 relief apps in the same season (1996, Doug Johns, 23 starts, 17 relief apps)...his 2 saves were the first of his career and the most by an A's pitcher who also made 15 or more starts since 1983, when Steve McCatty had 5 saves and 24 starts and Tom Underwood had 4 saves and 15 starts...went 5-3, 4.15 in 16 apps at home and 2-4, 5.66 in 19 apps on the road...began the season in Oak's bullpen and posted a 5.14era with 1 save in 9 relief apps before he joined the rotation on 5/4 after Esteban Loaiza was injured... remained in the starting rotation until the All-Star break and went 3-5, 5.37 in 10 starting assignments...made his first 7 apps after the break in relief (1-1-1, 2.87) before re-joining the rotation on 8/15...went 3-1, 3.98 in 6 starts but returned to the bullpen on 9/21, when Rich Harden was reinstated from the disabled list...finished the season with 3 relief apps...his first batters faced in relief went 0-for-16 with 3 walks...in 8 of his 16 starts threw at least 6.0 innings...allowed 2 runs or fewer in 9 starts and walked 2 batters or fewer 8 times...on 4/28 at KC recorded the final 2 outs of a 5-3 victory to earn his first career save...earned his other save in an 11-inning, 5-4 win at Bos on 7/13...was the winning pitcher in his 100th career appearance, a 6-3 Athletics win on 5/18 vs Sea...threw 4.0 innings in relief in consecutive apps on 7/25 vs Bos and 8/8 vs Tex...were his longest career relief outings...on 8/20 at KC allowed a career-high 11 hits in 6.0 innings but allowed just 2 runs and earned the 6-4 victory...in August went 4-0, 2.01 in 3 starts and 1 relief appearance...the career-high 4-win month was second-most in the American League in August...his 4-game winning streak from 8/8-8/29 was 1 shy of his career high...in his final start, on 9/19 vs Cle, recorded a career-high 11 strikeouts in just 5.0 innings...became the second pitcher in Oak history to strikeout 10 or more batters in 5.0 or fewer innings (Tim Hudson, 11k in 5ip on 6/8/99 at SD)...was on Oak's postseason roster for the American League Division Series and Championship Series but was the only A's pitcher who did not appear in a game.

2005

Spent the entire season as Oak's fifth starter and went 10-9, 4.17 in 27 starts and 2 relief apps... established career highs in almost every statistical category...entered the season with 10 victories in his 3-year Major League career...4 times was the victim of blown saves...posted the best ERA of his career (4.17)...opponents hit just .278, lowest mark of his career...ranked among the American League leaders in complete games (2, T10th) and shutouts (1 (T5th)...the A's went 16-11 in his 27 starts (.593)... averaged 2.99 strikeouts per 9 innings (159.2ip, 53k)...based on a minimum 120.0 innings pitched, that strikeout ratio was the lowest in the majors in '05 and the lowest in franchise history...in 13 of his 27 starts recorded 1 strikeout or fewer, including 6 apps in which he did not fan out a batter...allowed just 11 home runs, an average of 0.62 HR per 9 innings that ranked third-lowest among all American League pitchers who threw at least 130.0 innings...began the season 1-4, 4.74 in his first 11 apps, including 9 starts, then beginning 6/2 went 8-2, 3.39 over 12 consecutive starts (6/2-8/24)...the 8 victories ranked T4th in the AL during that span...finished the season 1-3, 5.13 in his last 6 starts...went 5-1, 3.27 in 10 starts during the day and 5-8, 4.76 in 19 apps at night...his 3.27era during the day was 10th-best in the AL...went 6-4, 3.47 in 17 apps on the road and 4-5, 5.09 in 12 apps at home...opponents hit just .236 with RISP...in his first start of the season, on 4/6 at Bal, earned the victory after allowing just 1 hit in 6.0 shutout innings...beginning with his second start went 0-4, 5.40 to tie his career-high losing streak... his 6 putouts on 4/22 at LAA tied the American League record for putouts by a pitcher in a 9-inning game... his 22 putouts for the season ranked T5th among all AL pitchers...because of off days on 5/19 and 5/23 was used in relief twice between his starts on 5/16 and 5/28...in 3 starts from 6/2-6/18 didn't record a strikeout in 17.0 innings, 2 outs shy of the Oak record for consecutive innings without a strikeout by a starter...that streak ended on 6/23 at Sea, when in the 5-0 victory he had 7 strikeouts while throwing the second complete game and second shutout of his career...in that win allowed just 4 hits, his fewest in a complete game, and threw 127 pitches, his career high...from 4/17-6/11 did not allow a home run in 47.1 innings or 208 batters faced... allowed 1 homer in his first 12g and 55.0 innings through 6/2 and 10hr in his last 17g and 104.2 innings...in June went 3-0, 2.08 in 4 starts...that 3-game winning streak was snapped in a 5-3 loss to the WSox on 7/2 but early in that start extended his career-high scoreless streak to 15.1 innings...in a 5-2 win vs Det on 7/31 threw a 7-hitter for his third career CG...fell 1 out shy of a shutout when he allowed Magglio Ordonez' 2-run HR in the ninth inning...that victory was part of a season-high 4-game winning streak (7/23-8/4, 3.34era).

2004

On 4/17 was traded from the Astros to the Athletics...spent the first 3 months of the season in the minor leagues...combined to go 2-2, 6.59 in 7 starts in Class AAA for New Orleans and Sacramento...from 4/34-6/13 was on Sacramento's disabled list with a broken right ring finger...was promoted to Oak on 6/27 and made just 1 relief appearance before he joined the starting rotation after Tim Hudson was disabled...for the A's went 2-1, 4.37 in his 5 starts and posted a 4.44era in 6 apps overall before he went on the disabled list on 8/7 with bone spurs in his right elbow...in a start on a rehabilitation assignment for Sacramento on 9/6 at Portland threw 1.0 inning and did not pitch again the rest of the season...the A's went 3-2 in his 5 starts... earned the victory in his first start, a 7-3 win vs Ana on 7/1, when he threw 5.0 scoreless innings (5h, 1bb, 1k)...made his final start of the season on 7/29 at Tex and allowed 5 runs in 2.1 innings...was scheduled to pitch out of the bullpen but did not make an appearance before he went on the DL...began the season with New Orleans...was 0-2, 15.43 in 2 starts when he was traded...was assigned to Sacramento and went 2-0, 3.54 in 5 starts before he was promoted to Oak...on 4/13 at Omaha allowed 4 home runs in 4.0 innings... entered that start with just 7 homers allowed in his previous 194.1 minor league innings...in his first start for Sacramento following the trade, on 4/22 vs Salt Lake, threw 6.0 shutout innings in the 14-1 victory.

2003

Spent most of the season with the Astros, where during 3 Major League stints he went 2-1, 4.93 in 4 starts and 32 relief apps...went 0-1, 10.38 in his 4 starts and 2-0, 2.97 in his 32 relief apps...also pitched at Class AAA New Orleans, where he went 5-0, 3.08 with 2 complete games and 1 shutout in 7 starts and 6 relief apps...began the season with New Orleans...was recalled on 5/2...returned to the minors on 5/12... was promoted again on 5/20...the next day vs StL made his first Major League relief appearance and worked a scoreless eighth inning...on 6/11 vs NYY at Yankee Stadium was 1 of 6 pitchers who combined for a nohitter... in that historic game threw 1.1 scoreless innings...returned to New Orleans on 8/14...prior to that option had thrown 8.2 scoreless innings (7/29-8/12)...was recalled for the third time after rosters expanded in September...in the season's last month did not allow an earned run in any of his 6 apps (6.1ip)...in the final game of the season started in place of Wade Miller and struck out 6 of the 10 batters he faced.

2002

In his Major League debut went 6-7, 6.01 with 1 shutout in 17 starts for the Astros...in just his second professional season made the jump from Class AA, where he was Texas League Pitcher of the Year, Texas League Player of the Month for May and Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Week for 7/1-7/7...was SportsTicker's Minor League Pitcher of the Year...was selected to participate in the Texas League All-Star Game but did not pitch...was National League Rookie of the Month for July 2002...at Class AA Round Rock and Class AAA New Orleans combined to finish 12-1, 1.54 in 15 starts and 2 relief apps...began the season with Round Rock and went 10-1, 1.40 in 13 starts before he was promoted to Class AAA New Orleans on 6/11...hadn't yet joined the Zephyrs when he was promoted to Hou...was granted a leave of absence for his wedding, which had been scheduled during the Double-A All-Star Game break...was married on 6/16 in Seattle and was promoted to the big leagues 2 days later, before he reached his Class AAA club...on 6/18 at Mil made his Major League debut...lost his first 2 outings before he was optioned to New Orleans on 6/29... for the Zephyrs went 2-0, 2.25 in 2 starts and 2 relief apps...from 7/1-7/7 was named Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Week after he went 1-0, 1.00 with 11 strikeouts in 9.9 innings...on 7/20 was promoted again and in that day's 3-2 Astros victory vs the Cubs at Wrigley Field earned his first career win...after that 7/20 promotion won his first 3 starts and spent the rest of the season with the Astros...was NL Rookie of the Month for July after going 3-0, 1.77 in 3 starts...during his career-high 5-game winning streak (7/20-8/10) posted a 2.87era with 22 strikeouts and just 1 walk...in an 8-0 win vs Pit on 7/25 threw a 6-hitter for his first career complete game and shutout...was the only NL rookie to throw a shutout in '05...from 7/20-7/30 did not walk a batter over 19.0 consecutive innings..for Round Rock produced a 10-game winning streak...was named Texas League Player of the Month for May after he went 4-0, 0.26.

2001

Was selected by the Astros in the third round of the draft (86th overall) and signed on 6/24...began his professional career at Class A Lexington, where he went 1-1, 1.17 with 11 saves in 22 apps as the club's closer...allowed just 18 hits in 30.2 innings...South Atlantic League opponents hit just .165.