The A's rotation wasn't supposed to be their strength. Gio Gonzalez and Trevor Cahill were shipped elsewhere in the offseason, Brandon McCarthy went from No. 5 starter to No. 1 in one year, and most of the others were untested.

But look at 'em now.

Among A's starters, who have a 2.93 ERA, second-lowest in the American League, only Graham Godfrey has struggled, and he's no longer in the majors. Everyone else has low ERAs, and Tommy Milone's is the lowest at 2.00.

The left-hander, using a well-located fastball to set up his dazzling changeup, fired eight scoreless innings, and the A's scored twice in the eighth for a 2-0 victory over the White Sox at the Coliseum on Tuesday night.

Milone, who has three of Oakland's nine wins, surrendered three hits, walked nobody and struck out five in his 98-pitch outing. Closer Grant Balfour worked the ninth for his fifth save.

"Probably the best my arm's felt all year," said Milone, calling his changeup "definitely the best it's been this year. Just the action on it and being able to start it as a strike and then have it leave the zone."

Manager Bob Melvin is proud of a rotation of McCarthy, Bartolo Colon, Milone, Tyson Ross and Jarrod Parker, who'll make his A's debut Wednesday. Said Melvin: "We know we're developing these guys, and they'll get better and better. We have a lot of faith in them, obviously, or we wouldn't have made those deals."

In the bottom of the eighth, pinch-hitter Kurt Suzuki doubled home a run off reliever Matt Thornton and scored on Eric Sogard's single as the A's snapped their 16-inning scoreless streak. With Suzuki on the bench, Anthony Recker caught Milone for the first time since spring training and provided a big assist by gunning down Brent Morel trying to steal for the final out of the top of the eighth.

"Great control," Recker said of Milone. "He does exactly what you want him to do. As a catcher, he's a dream. You never worry about altering your game plan based on missing spots or not having a particular pitch. He has everything every day. It's almost like he's a perfectionist."

One night after Jake Peavy shut out the A's and three days after Phil Humber threw a perfect game, White Sox starter Gavin Floyd mostly had his way with A's batters, who were called into the coaches' office before the game by hitting coach Chili Davis.

Shortly thereafter, Melvin told reporters that the A's needed to strike early - it didn't happen - and that his guys needed to take pressure off themselves by trusting others.

"I think we have to rely on the group," he said. "Don't feel like you have to be the guy. There's other guys behind you."
