| In the interest of speed and timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain spelling or grammatical errors. |
Mecir suffers setback
Thursday March 27, 2003PHOENIX (AP) Oakland Athletics pitcher Jim Mecir had a simulated game canceled Thursday because of tightness in his left quad.
Mecir, recovering from surgery to repair a torn patellar tendon, wasn't expected to pitch in the major leagues until at least early May.
``We shut him down more as a precautionary move,'' A's manager Ken Macha said.
Meanwhile, Macha said Eric Byrnes would probably start in center field if Chris Singleton is unable to go on opening day.
Singleton, who had cysts removed from his thyroid late last week, hasn't played in nearly two weeks. He participated in batting practice on Thursday and was scheduled to play in a minor league game.
``Byrnes has had a great spring,'' Macha said. ``He's kind of earned the opportunity to see what he can do.''
Byrnes entered play Thursday hitting .364 with four homers and 12 RBIs.
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