"It was a short day's work, but Ben Sheets considered it a big hurdle cleared.

Sheets threw 1?2/3 innings in his A's spring debut Friday against the Milwaukee Brewers, allowing four hits and two runs (one earned) in an 8-7 A's victory.

It marked Sheets' first start in 17-plus months after he missed all of last season recovering from right elbow surgery.

His command was off on his fastball and curveball, but Sheets felt fine physically afterward. For that, he considered his day a "W."

"Seventeen months since I last faced a batter," he said. "I ain't gonna lie, it's not like I wasn't nervous out there. Once I got (in the flow), I felt pretty good."

Milwaukee, Sheets' former team, put good wood on him in a two-run first inning, but throwing errors from catcher Kurt Suzuki and third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff didn't help.

Sheets got George Kottaras swinging on a changeup to end the first. After Steffan Wilson singled with two outs in the second, A's manager Bob Geren pulled Sheets after 32 pitches. He was on a 35-pitch limit.

"He just missed with his curve, but the more he threw you could tell he was right there," Geren said. "The most important thing is how he's feeling, and he said he feels great.""