Athletics to recall ambidextrous pitcher Pat Venditte from Triple-A

Pitcher Aaron Brooks was optioned to Triple-A Nashville, and pitcher Dan Otero was recalled from Nashville.

The moves Saturday come after the A’s went deep into their bullpen Friday night in a 13-inning loss to Baltimore.

Mills leaves the A’s after allowing three runs over five innings Friday in his only big league outing of 2015, a spot start forced by Sonny Gray missing his start Thursday in Toronto because of back spasms.

For the second straight night, the Orioles gathered at home plate for a water-spraying, hand-slapping celebration – this time with Venditte giving up the winning run.

Venditte was placed on the disabled list June 12 with a strained right shoulder. Two of those home runs allowed occurred in his first three rehab appearances with the Stockton Ports. Prior to the injury, he had made four relief appearances at the major league level for the Athletics, tossing 5 2/3 scoreless innings on a hit and two walks with four strikeouts. In four games with the club, he pitched 5.2 innings, appearing in four games. The A’s had only five relievers available as they had demoted Arnold Leon to allow Brad Mills to start, and Felix Doubront was unavailable after throwing almost 100 pitches on Wednesday.

In terms of the bullpen, keep in mind that the A’s intend to activate Sean Doolittle for the next homestand, if all goes according to plan.