A's closer Bailey leaves with elbow pain

GOODYEAR, Ariz., March 14 (UPI) -- Oakland Athletics closer Andrew Bailey left Monday's spring training game in Arizona early after clutching his pitching elbow in pain.

The 26-year-old reliever was tended to by trainers in the seventh inning of the A's game against Cleveland at Goodyear, Ariz., before walking off the field.

Bailey wasn't available to the media after the game and the A's issued a statement saying only he had left with discomfort in his surgically-repaired right elbow.

Oakland Manager Bob Geren described the problem to reporters as "forearm tightness." A's General Manager Billy Beane declined to comment to the San Francisco Chronicle until more was known.

Bailey, who underwent ligament replacement surgery while in college, also had clean-up surgery on his elbow before the start of the 2010 season and missed nearly a month with an elbow strain beginning in late July, MLB.com reported.