Graveman’s struggles continue
Kendall Graveman gave up six runs Friday night, yet came away encouraged — his new delivery actually showed promise, as did his spiffed-up changeup.
Will that be enough to keep the A’s Opening Day starter on the roster much longer after yet another rough outing? Graveman gave up a game-tying, three-run homer by Jackie Bradley Jr., continuing an ugly trend, then was charged with three more runs in the sixth when reliever Emilio Pagan took over from him and served up a first-pitch grand slam to Mitch Moreland. The two homers accounted for all of Boston’s scoring in a 7-3 victory at the Coliseum that snapped Oakland’s four-game winning streak.
Graveman has allowed seven homers, tying him with Texas’ Cole Hamels for most in the majors. Pagan has allowed four, tying him with the Angels’ Luke Bard for the most among American League relievers.
Pagan was quick to blame himself for Graveman’s poor results.
“That was a terrible pitch,” Pagan said. “It’s a shame, because I thought Kendall threw a good game, and if I did my job, his box score looks a lot better and we probably come out on top. It’s just frustrating right now; it seems like one pitch each of my last few outings has crushed me.”
Graveman has a 10.07 ERA through five starts. As The Chronicle reported earlier in the week, the team has considered sending him down to Triple-A Nashville to work out his issues. Friday, though, he tried going without an overhead windup while warming up in the bullpen, thought it felt good, and took it into the game and got some good results. He said his location, especially down in the zone, was much better as a result. “It helped me stay in line, in rhythm,” said Graveman, who can also pause in the delivery to disrupt timing.
Graveman had some stretches where he looked better than he had all year; after Bradley’s homer, he retired 11 in a row. Still, the right-hander has allowed 25 runs in 221⁄3 innings, and Friday he tied Rick Langford’s 1983 mark for the longest season-opening stretch of games (five) without working beyond the fifth inning while giving up four or more runs.
“I thought he threw as well as we’ve seen him throw all year,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “I thought this was his best outing. He mixed his pitches better, he kept them off balance.”
Graveman has been trying to improve his changeup, and he said he quizzed A’s pitcher Trevor Cahill about his this week, so he started holding the ball more loosely. “I found a grip I really trusted and liked, and I think you saw it show up,” he said. “Some weak groundballs, some swing-and-misses.”
“We all believe in Kendall, he’s got great stuff,” Pagan said. “It’s a shame it fell on me, his line doesn’t look as good as it should. I take that personally, and I’ll try to do better the next time.”
Boston is throwing three left-handed starters in the series, not a plus for the A’s, who are 1-6 in games started by opposing left-handers.
Friday night, it was Drew Pomeranz, a onetime A’s pitcher who was making his first start after off the DL (forearm tightness). The A’s jumped on him in the first, with Jed Lowrie providing a run-scoring double and Matt Olson and Mark Canha adding two-out RBI singles. Oakland made Pomeranz throw 45 pitches in the inning but failed to score again in his 32⁄3 innings. Oakland loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh, but Matt Barnes struck out Matt Joyce to end the A’s only other threat.
Lowrie, who began his career with Boston, continued his tear, going 4-for-5 with two doubles. He’s hitting .372 and leads the majors with 32 hits and 22 RBIs.
Should the A’s option Graveman out, they could turn to Daniel Gossett, who is on the 40-man roster, or lefty Brett Anderson, who signed a minorleague deal with Oakland and has allowed two earned runs and struck out 20 in 13 innings at Nashville.
Asked about Anderson, Melvin said that the reports are good and noted that Anderson threw 77 pitches his last time out, which is “getting awfully close to potentially being here if the need is here for him.”
Boston is averaging more than six runs a game and has the majors’ best record at 17-2.
“Right now they certainly look like the class of the American League,” Melvin said.