OAKLAND, Calif. -- Tom Underwood understands his place on the Oakland A's pitching staff to the point where he is willing to do anything asked of him just so long as no one forgets he's on the team.
Underwood was given a rare starting assignment Wednesday and he rewarded manager Billy Martin by pitching the A's to a 5-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins.
He gave up 8 hits and walked three batters but was able to go the distance thanks to fourth inning home runs by Joe Rudi and Jeff Newman, which accounted for all the Oakland runs.
'I was excited about starting,' said the 29-year-old left-hander, who had only five starts with the A's last year after being acquired from the New York Yankees.
'I'll probably go back to the bullpen but I don't mind.'
Underwood is the so-called fifth starter on the Oakland staff, which means the only time he will be called upon is when the A's play seven games in one week.
He said he understands his place although he would prefer being a starter.
Underwood wasn't aware at first that his younger brother, Pat, had pitched the Detroit Tigers to victory earlier in the day.
He said the last time he remembers they both won on the same day was in 1979. In that same season, Pat beat Tom head-to-head, 1-0, in his major league debut.
'I was the first to congratulate him that day,' said Tom, 'but it was a while before I forgave him.'
pickup2ndgraf: the a'
It was the third game longer than five hours involving the A's this season and their third 16-inning contest.
After Lopes doubled off loser Bobby Castillo, 0-1, Mike Heath was intentionally walked and Fred Stanley drew a walk on four pitches to fill the bases. It appeared Castillo would get out of the jam when he got Rickey Henderson to pop out and struck out Dwayne Murphy, but Meyer lined the first pitch to him for a single to right.
Dave Beard, 1-0, worked 4 2-3 innings in his first appearance of the season to get the victory.
Minnesota tied it 3-3 in the ninth. With one out, pinch hitter Dave Engle and Jim Eisenreich singled back-to-back. Reliever Jeff Jones then wild pitched them to second and third and Gary Ward walked to load the bases. Jones then walked Mickey Hatcher to tie the score 3-3 and Bob Owchinko replaced Jones, who got rookie Kent Hrbek to fly out to short left and struck out Jesus Vega to end the inning.
The A's took a 3-2 lead in the sixth inning on a double by Tony Armas and a single by Davey Lopes. Lopes also drove in the A's first run in the second inning with a sacrifice fly.
The Twins took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Eisenreich walked, Mickey Hatcher singled and Hrbek delivered a run-scoring groundout. After the A's tied the score 1-1 in the second, the Twins went ahead 2-1 in the third when Hatcher singled and Hrbek followed with a long double to center. It was his American League-leading 16th RBI.
The A's tied it 2-2 in the third on singles by Henderson and Murphy and a sacrifice fly by Meyer.
