The A's hope their hard-throwing right-hander will pitch again sometime this season. He has the same injury that landed him on the DL for the first time this year — from April 16 to June 21.

"It's frustrating, but I think it's as frustrating for Rich as anyone," assistant general manager David Forst said. "He told us after he pitched Saturday that he wants to be out there pitching and feeling good, and he just doesn't. We just have to wait for him to be 100 percent pain-free. We have no timetable. We'll take our cues from Rich. We'll try to get him back sometime this year."

Harden's move is retroactive to July 8. Oakland selected right-hander Andrew Brown from Sacramento, clearing a spot on the 40-man roster by transferring right-hander Justin Duchscherer to the 60-day DL. Duchscherer, the team's top setup man, is out for the year with a hip injury.

The A's also placed infielder Donnie Murphy on the bereavement list and recalled infielder J.J. Furmaniak from Triple-A Sacramento to take his place.

Harden will go to Single-A Vancouver — not far from his home of Victoria, British Columbia — for "some rest and rehab."

"Hopefully he'll continue throwing shortly," manager Bob Geren said. "Hopefully it's not too big a setback."

Harden made three relief appearances after coming off the DL the first time this season. He threw four scoreless innings before making a start Saturday against Seattle. He allowed four runs — including Adrian Beltre's three-run homer in the second — in 2 2-3 innings and took the loss.

Afterward, Harden told Geren that he didn't feel quite right physically. He is 1-2 with a 2.45 ERA in seven games and four starts in 2007.

He left his April 15 start against the New York Yankees in the seventh inning with stiffness in his throwing shoulder, then went on the DL the following day.

Harden spent two stints on the disabled list in 2006 with lower back and elbow injuries that limited him to nine starts. He was also on the DL twice in 2005.