A's starting pitchers Dallas Braden and Brett Anderson both made rehab starts Thursday and are making progress towards returning to the starting rotation. Braden, who is rehabbing from an elbow injury, gave up three runs over four innings of work for Class A Stockton. He was pulled in the fifth inning after giving up back-to-back solo home runs. "Dallas threw the ball well," Athletics manager Bob Geren said. "He got a little bit tired around 70, 75 pitches, but other than that, he felt good. It was his first time out in a while. He'll throw another side for us here [Saturday] and his stamina will go up for his next start and he'll be fine." Anderson made his second rehab start Thursday as he works to come back from left elbow tendinitis. The left-hander gave up one run over four innings for the AZL Athletics. "Brett still has a couple more-starts to go," Geren said. "He threw 63 pitches. ... He mixed all four of his pitches and felt pretty good." http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/ne...12295696&vkey=notebook_oak&fext=.jsp&c_id=oak
