Oakland’s 9th-inning rally falls a run shy in Seattle
SEATTLE — The Mariners probably must sweep the A’s in this four-game series to have a shot at a playoff berth, and the A’s aimed to play spoiler with their best pitcher on the mound.
Kendall Graveman did turn in another fine start for Oakland, and the A’s rallied in the ninth to put a scare into the Safeco Field crowd. Not enough: Oakland lost for the ninth time in 10 games, with Mike Zunino’s homer off Liam Hendriks in the seventh helping Seattle to a 3-2 victory. Zunino, a .217 hitter, has three homers in 15 at-bats against Oakland this year.
Graveman was one of the A’s best stories this season. He had a rough rookie year after coming from Toronto in the extraordinarily high-profile Josh Donaldson deal, but he was Oakland’s most reliable starter in 2016. He was particularly strong after his first nine starts, going 9-5 with a 3.69 ERA.
“He’s pitched some of his best baseball, some of his deepest games, in the second half of the season,” manager Bob Melvin said this week. “It’s been impressive to watch.”
Graveman credited the coaching staff, particularly first-base coach Mike Aldrete, for helping him improve. “He would always ask me, no matter what happened in the game, ‘What did you learn?’ and that really reinforced I needed to learn something from each outing,” Graveman said.
And learn he has, including from his 5.40 ERA in seven previous appearances against Seattle. “We made an adjustment from the last few times and started to pitch in, said if they’re going to beat us, they’re going to beat us when we throw the fastball in,” Graveman said.
The only run off Graveman in his 52⁄3 innings came in the fourth, when, with two outs, Seattle strung together three hits, with Adam Lind’s single to right sending in Kyle Seager. Graveman had a toenail problem that led to a blister in the late going but said he didn’t think it affected him.
Rookie infielder Chad Pinder hit his first big-league homer, a shot into the A’s bullpen leading off the sixth.
The A’s had a great shot to add on the next inning, with one out and men at the corners, but Steve Cishek got pinch-hitter Max Muncy to hit into a double play. Seattle added a run against Ryan Madson in the eighth on a two-out single by Ketel Marte.
Ryon Healy singled to open the ninth, Khris Davis doubled, and with one out, Bruce Maxwell delivered a pinch-hit RBI single to cut Seattle’s lead to one, but Edwin Diaz struck out Yonder Alonso and Muncy to end the game.
“It came down to situational at-bats,” Melvin said.
Melvin said before the game that with Seattle still in the wild-card race, he hoped the experience would be a valuable one for Oakland’s youngsters “as close to playoff atmosphere as we’ll be a part of this year and especially for our younger guys, I want them to recognize that, feed off it some, and aspire to be in the position the Mariners are in, hopefully, next year.” Another surgery for Lowrie: Infielder Jed Lowrie said he is ahead of schedule after his Aug. 31 surgery to repair a foot ligament and remove a bunion and cyst; he gets out of the walking boot Friday and will be fully ready for spring training.
Lowrie also had surgery last week in Houston to repair a deviated septum and remove two bone spurs in his nose. Lowrie had thought he simply had sinus issues, but it turns out he might have had a deviated septum since being hit with a ball in 2006. “My sleep had been messed up for a long time, I realized,” he said.
He finally should be able to get a good night’s rest — except that he and his wife, Milessa, are expecting their second child next week.