"Five days after facing 10 men and failing to record an out, Ben Sheets bounced back with a nice outing Saturday in the A's 7-4 win over the Cubs.

"Sometimes, it only takes six days to get one out," Sheets said with a grin.

After making an arm-angle adjustment, he was able to throw strikes with his fastball and told manager Bob Geren his curve was the best it's been. Sheets went four innings and allowed three hits and one run while walking three and striking out four.

"If I didn't need spring training, I'd just show up on April 5," Sheets said."