Angels 2, A’s 1: Kendall Graveman’s unassisted double play highlights loss.
ANAHEIM — Just off the disabled list, Kendall Graveman dashed right into potential harm with one of the more spectacular defensive plays the A’s have turned in since Josh Donaldson’s memorable leap over the tarp for a foul ball in 2013.
Donaldson, though, is a position player and Graveman is a starting pitcher, and it’s not often you see one of those record an unassisted double play, especially the way Graveman did it Thursday at Angel Stadium in Oakland’s 2-1 loss.
“That’s probably the best play I’ve ever seen a pitcher make,” said A’s manager Bob Melvin, a longtime big-league catcher and manager.
It was the first unassisted double play by an Oakland pitcher since Blue Moon Odom had one in 1971, also against the Angels. Coincidentally, Odom was at Angel Stadium on Thursday, chatting with A’s players and coaches before the game.
“That’s my guy, Blue Moon!” Graveman said. “Every time we come here and in spring training, I try to catch up with him . ... He came in right before I went out and said, ‘Hey, I’m going to be in the front row watching you.’ So that is pretty neat that happened.”
Odom, who watched the game from a seat right behind Oakland’s dugout, said he didn’t remember his unassisted double play, but he was wowed by Graveman’s. “You won’t see that too often,” Odom said. “That was great. That’s hard to do. He worked that out just right. And he’s my buddy, anyway.”
The last unassisted double play by a pitcher before Graveman’s was by the Padres’ Luis Perdomo at Miami on Aug. 28.
With men at the corners and no outs in the fifth, Graveman fielded a comebacker by Juan Graterol and ran Ben Revere back toward third, tagging him several feet from the bag. Then Graveman vaulted over Revere to tag Cliff Pennington trying to advance on the play, which went down as a 1-U DP.
Graveman landed hard as he tagged Pennington and got up a little slowly, which gave Melvin some palpitations, considering Graveman had missed the previous 12 days with shoulder tightness. Graveman stayed in the game and showed no ill effects from the tumble.
“First thing I asked him was, ‘What’d you fall on?’ ” Melvin said. “And he said, ‘My butt,’ so I said, ‘Well, you’re all right then.’ ”
Graveman went six innings and allowed six hits and two runs. He walked none and struck out four.
The Angels’ runs came with two outs in the first. Mike Trout doubled to left and Albert Pujols sent him home with a single blasted off the right-field wall. C.J. Cron doubled home Pujols.
Oakland didn’t score against Ricky Nolasco until the fourth, when Jed Lowrie doubled and Yonder Alonso pushed him across with a two-out single. Alonso is 10-for-21 with runners in scoring position, and his 14 RBIs lead the team.
The A’s have dropped four in a row after winning their previous five.They’re 10-12 and tied for third in the AL West, four games behind the Astros.
They play at Houston this weekend and have an added degree of difficulty: The A’s won’t get to their hotel until 6 a.m. Friday or later, so starter Jharel Cotton was sent to Houston ahead of his teammates.
“We’re trying the maximize the amount of sleep we can get,” Melvin said. “We’ll probably just be on the field for 10 or 15 minutes toward the end of our batting practice to take some groundballs and so forth. Based on the time we get there, the prudent thing is to try to get them some sleep.”
Under the new collective bargaining agreement, teams will have to schedule day games if they or the opponent faces a flight of 2½ hours or more, but the rule could not be implemented until next season because the 2017 schedule had been set.