Chapman exits with sore ankle

A’s third baseman Matt Chapman exited in the third inning of Wednesday afternoon’s game against Seattle and is daytoday with left ankle soreness.

Chapman said he felt some pain while throwing out Domingo Santana in the first inning and that one of his swings during a firstinning atbat felt awkward.

Robbie Grossman was inserted into left field in the third inning, moving Chad Pinder to third base in place of Chapman.

“It was just bothering him a little bit, and you don’t want to mess around with it,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “You try to nip it at the pass.”

Chapman has been scorching since the AllStar break, going 9for16 to boost his season average to .280 with 22 homers and 59 RBIs. New order: Melvin shuffled the batting order, dropping Khris Davis from fourth to sixth in hopes that the switch would ignite the slumping designated hitter.

“It’s just a change of scenery for Khris,” Melvin said. “… Sometimes you struggle a little bit, and a change of scenery can help. That’s all it is. He’ll be back in the fourth spot sometime. I have no doubt. I’m just trying to give him a different look.”

Davis’ first 77 starts this season were all in the lineup’s fourth spot. He started there 289 times in 201718, with his other 12 starts coming third in the batting order during the span.

The last time he batted lower than fourth was 2016, when he had 40 starts at No. 5 in the order, six in the sixth spot and 10 batting seventh.

Davis, who came into the game hitting .194 during 18 straight homerless games, went 1for4 with a strikeout against Seattle.

“Guys are going to go through prolonged periods. It’s just kind of rare to see with him,” Melvin said. “You’re used to seeing a homer every other day. This is kind of an extended period.

“At times, you press a little bit. … The next time he hits one out of the ballpark, we’re probably off to the races again.” Xfactor arm? Lefthander A.J. Puk has made so much progress in his return from April 2018 Tommy John surgery that Melvin believes Puk could help during the A’s postseason push.

Melvin was careful to curb some of the enthusiasm, saying that the team’s firstround pick in 2016 is learning a different role in the bullpen.

“I feel like he will be a factor,” Melvin said, “but we’re getting ahead of ourselves, if we’re talking about it in the near future.”