Graveman sent back down

BOSTON — Kendall Graveman’s return to the A’s proved to be a quick one: He subbed for Trevor Cahill for one start and was sent back to Triple-A Nashville on Tuesday to make room for Stephen

Piscotty to come off the bereavement list.

“He pitched well in New York, he’s still a big part of this team,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said of Graveman. “There’s no doubt he’ll be back at some point.”

The other two possibilities to come out of the rotation, based on performance, were lefty Brett Anderson and right-hander Andrew Triggs, but Anderson would have to be designated for assignment if he were to come off the roster, and the A’s would have to use an option to send Triggs out. Graveman already has had an option used this year.

“At this point in the season, we’re trying to keep as many options as we can as starters go,” Melvin said.

Cahill, who had a minor elbow impingement, will come off the DL after the minimum 10 days Wednesday to start against Boston. Outfielder

Jake Smolinski is the most likely player to be sent out to make room for Cahill; Smolinski has not had much playing time since Mark Canha showed he could handle center-field duties.

Canha unhappy with fan:

With a man on and two outs in the seventh inning Monday, Canha ran over to the side wall after a foul ball by Hanley

Ramirez. He made the catch — and a Boston fan tried to get him to drop it after the fact.

“He was just trying to catch it at first, but then he swiped — and he came a couple inches from hitting me in the face,” Canha said. “He hits the brim of my cap and tries to knock the ball out of my glove. Heat of the moment, I was pretty angry, but I’m glad I handled it well and didn’t fly off the handle too much, because we were pretty close, face-to-face.”

Canha snapped at the fan before returning to the dugout. “I knew he’d done it on purpose, so I said, ‘Don’t ever do that again,’ with some words left out,” he said. “You can’t do that, you can’t make intentional contact with a player like that. He should have been kicked out of the game, and he wasn’t.”