Ziegler exceeds expectations with scoreless record

OAKLAND, Calif. – Excuse Brad Ziegler for being slightly overwhelmed by all the attention.

Two months ago, the Oakland reliever was barely a blip on baseball’s radar, so frustrated at Triple-A that he was ready to ask the Athletics for his release.

Now, the 28-year-old rookie has set a pretty impressive major league record: most consecutive scoreless innings to start a career.

Ziegler extended his string to 27 Sunday, breaking a 101-year-old mark. His shutout streak was intact going into Tuesday night’s game against Kansas City.

Not bad for someone who recently fractured his skull – for the second time in three years – in a freak accident.

That came a while after his A’s bosses told him he’d probably need to move to the bullpen and drastically change his delivery to reach the big leagues.

The right-handed sidearmer is still working each day to perfect his mechanics.

“It’s crazy. It is. It almost seems kind of movie-ish: The guy who goes through all the trouble to get there, but at the end he has all the positive things happen to him,” Ziegler said, sitting in the dugout for one of many interviews Monday.

“Not that everything’s going to be peachy the rest of my career, but at this point it’s tough to complain about anything,” he said. “It’s bizarre. I don’t feel like I’ve done anything extraordinary.”

Ziegler started this season at Triple-A Sacramento and did well there, too, allowing only one earned run in 241/3 innings. The Athletics promoted him May 30.

“What’s impressed me from a mental side is he showed no intimidation or fear from the first day,” A’s manager Bob Geren said. “From the physical side, his ball has great sink and great late sink and he’s throwing strikes and producing groundballs at a high rate. All of those are a good combination.”