» GRAVEMAN, A’S STRUGGLE IN LOSS

OAKLAND — Kendall Graveman was entrusted with the title of No. 1 starter for a young A’s starting rotation this season, but so far that assignment has not produced desirable results.

Graveman surrendered a solo home run to Joey Gallo in the third inning of Tuesday night’s 4-1 loss to the Rangers, making four homers allowed now over ten innings pitched.

Tasked with going up against the opposing team’s ace pitcher most times out, the A’s will need to get more from Graveman, who has now failed to go past five innings in each of his first two starts. Graveman was responsible for all four runs on the night, allowing eight hits and a walk with just one strikeout.

The A’s offense was stifled by Cole Hamels, who was electric on the mound for the Rangers.

Chad Pinder’s solo home run to left in the third was the only real damager inflicted on Hamels. The four-time All-Star struck out 11 batters over five innings of work. Hamels’ first eight strikeouts of the game all came on strikeouts.

It was an overall frustrating night at the plate for the A’s.

After Jed Lowrie came up with a clutch twoout double the night before, the A’s went 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position as they left nine runners on base despite racking up eight hits.

After a rough go of it on the defensive side of things over the previous few days, the A’s looked a lot better in that aspect.

Jonathan Lucroy had an impressive night behind the plate, catching three runners on the base paths trying to steal. Pinder also showed off his arm in left field with a perfect throw to Matt Chapman, who fired the ball to Lucroy to throw out Nomar Mazara trying to score from first on a hit.

The low attendance numbers also continued at the Coliseum.

For the second consecutive night attendance was under 10,000 with an announced crowd of 9,157 Tuesday night, which was also a free parking night. It was a slight improvement over Monday night’s attendance of 7,416, which was the lowest for a game in Oakland since 2003.

A’s outfielder Stephen Piscotty, who arrived from St. Louis used to playing in front of large crowds as a member of the Cardinals the past three years, said he didn’t pay too much attention to Monday’s small crowd. But it is always nice to have a vibrant atmosphere while playing at home.

“As a player, you’re pretty locked in on the game,” Piscotty said. “Some places it’s easier to do than others. Obviously it’s nice at home to have a nice, loud crowd. But on a Monday night, it’s kind of expected.”