Gray will pitch Monday
BALTIMORE — There will be no Clayton Kershaw Sonny Gray matchup Tuesday at the Coliseum. Manager Bob Melvin made it official: Gray returns to Oakland’s rotation Monday night at Camden Yards.
Gray, who is the AL ERA leader (2.06), was scratched from his start Thursday at Toronto with back spasms.
“We want to get him out there as soon as we can,” Melvin said. “He would love to pitch against Kershaw, and that was quite the potential marquee matchup. But he wants to be out there for his team as soon as he can.”
Starting Gray on Monday will enable the A’s to give Gray some extra days off here and there because of off days, but a Tuesday start would not provide as much opportunity for extra rest. Gray, an All-Star, is the A’s premier pitcher, and the team would love to get him a break or two without costing him starts.
Felix Doubront continues to be the likely starter Tuesday against the Dodgers, and Jesse Chavez would go Wednesday afternoon. Butler’s funk: Billy Butler bounced into a double play in a key situation Saturday night in a one-run loss and was thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double. He is 13-for-73 (.178) with no homers and three RBIs in his past 23 games.
“We haven’t been as good offensively as a group recently,” Melvin said. “Part of that is what he’s going through. Sometimes you press a little bit too much. … It’s probably unfair to point to one guy when we’ve had quite a few guys (who) have had some issues recently.”
Melvin noted that Butler had good numbers against Baltimore starter Wei-Yin Chen, 9-for-20 with two homers in their previous matchups.
“Hopefully, he can get some hits and get past what has been a tough situation for him,” Melvin said. Butler went 1-for-4 Sunday, 1-for-3 off Chen. Briefly: Sean Doolittle (shoulder) struck out all three batters he faced in Triple-A Nashville’s 4-3 loss to El Paso on Sunday. It’s possible the A’s will activate Doolittle on Tuesday. Because he is on the 60-day disabled list, the A’s have to add him to the 40man roster spot, but they have a spot open after designating Brad Mills for assignment Saturday. ... Right-hander Taylor Thompson cleared waivers and returned to Nashville.