Erik Hiljus sealed his own fate Tuesday night with another subpar performance in a starting roll.

Baseball coaches are well known for masking their true feelings when assessing a player’s performance, but pitching coach Rick Peterson was less than complimentary when he described Hiljus’ poor outing.

Now, the question becomes when do you pitch Aaron Harang, Sunday or Monday?

Here’s what I think.Harang pitched seven shut out innings against Tampa Bay last Saturday in Oakland. Major league hitters are known for making adjustments the second time they see a pitcher.

It is very difficult to beat a team two times within one week. We see this often now because of the wacky schedule which has teams going back to back after a three game break against another nine.

Even a team like Tampa Bay will be ready to test the rookie on Sunday.

Mark Mulder reasoned that he could pitch more efectively if he threw on his normal four days of rest. The A’s accomodated the lefty and he pitched against the Orioles on his normal turn.

Sunday is Mulder’s normal turn again.

Plus do you want to upset Mulder’s slow climb back to respectability by having him pitch against Seattle on Monday.

Bigger risk involved than having the hotshot rookie pitch.

Nice crowd appeal, too, if Harang works Monday.

The ultimate baseball fantasy. The kid comes up from the minors and pitches against Ichiro and the boys.

Seattle has never seen Harang before.

Hey, I’m not sure anybody ever saw him pitch before last Saturday’s gem.

Harang came out of nowhere, like Robert Redford in “The Natural”.

Harang seems to have a decent make up and may be able to handle the pressure of opening up the crucial Seattle series at home.

Hiljus will hope to relocate his missing command in Sacramento. The righthander will be 30 years old this Xmas Day. He has made 20 big league starts. He has yet to hit a batter.

Batters are teeing off on the big righty.

In the majors, a pitcher must claim the plate as his sacred territory.

Maybe Hiljus can find the touch in AAA.

With the scarcity of pitching on the A’s AAA level, the big club may need him very soon, if another starter is traded or falters along the way.

Let Mulder make another step forward against the low scoring Devil Rays, give Harang the ball and hope for the best against Seattle Monday night.

Other news:

Rafael Soriano goes tonight for Seattle against Baltimore. The converted outfielder was effectively wild against the O’s last Saturday night.

Ryan Franklin get ready in the pen.

Scott Erickson hasn’t pitched a good game in over three weeks. Not completely surprising since he is on his way back from Tommy John surgery.

Usually, for pitchers like that, it’s one good, one bad, and so on. Erickson is carrying the maxim to the extreme with his poor outings.

Brad Radke returns for Minnesota today. If i’m correct, he has pitched well against Anaheim-California in the past. The Twins pitching staff needs a healthy Radke over the summer.

The ChiSox need arms badly. If they don’t part with some offense soon, they will be in for an unpleasant surprise, when the Twins pull away in July.

The A’s have pounded Paul Wilson whenever they see him. Everyone is assuming Tim Hudson will right the ship on his season tonight.

He was not very effective against Tampa Bay last Friday night, plus the defense didn’t help him very much in the outfield.

The A’s are hitting which may make Hudson’s job easier.

I’m looking forward to Monday night already.