Graveman is latest pitcher to struggle as A’s get blasted
SEATTLE >> The hope for the A’s entering the 2018 season was that their offense could be good enough to overcome pitching deficiencies. That offense might be really good, but A’s pitchers continue to struggle mightily.
No. 1 starter Kendall Graveman’s rough start to the season continued. Yet to go past five innings in a game, Graveman continued that bad trend in Saturday’s 10-8 loss to the Mariners.
While there were moments in the game where Graveman came up with critical strikeouts to strand runners on base, he said locating his pitches and overall inconsistency is what continues to plague him through his first four starts. All he can do is keep working to improve that aspect of his game.
“Just continue to focus on location and keep grinding. I don’t know what else to say,” Graveman said. “Just keep my head down, continue to work, and I will get it figured out. That’s not a question in my mind. I’ve had success in this league before. But at the same time, no excuses.”
After pitching his way out of a bases-loaded jam in the first inning, Graveman was bit by the home run bug again in the second. Jean Segura launched a 2-2 sinker from Graveman over the wall in left field to give the Mariners an early 3-0 advantage.
While Graveman’s downfalls in recent starts came from his inability to keep his sinkerball low to hitters, the pitch to Segura seemed to be placed in a good spot as it was both down and inside, but Segura still managed to crush it out.
The A’s (5-10) strung together a nice two-out rally with three straight hits in the third against Marco Gonzalez to drive in three runs and tie the game, but Graveman immediately allowed the Mariners to go back on top the following half-inning. Graveman surrendered three straight hits to lead it off, with the third hit being a single by Mitch Haniger that drove in two runs.
Graveman failed to go deep in a game again, allowing five runs on eight hits with two walks and five strikeouts with 93 pitches over four innings of work. He is now 0-3 with a 9.87 ERA, and his six home runs allowed over 17 1/3 innings are the most by a starting pitcher in all of baseball so far this season.
Graveman is halfway to the 12 home runs he allowed through 105 1/3 innings last season.
“For a sinkerballer it’s a lot. But I think it goes along with some struggles right now,” manager Bob Melvin said. “I know he’s going to figure it out at some point. It’s gone on a little bit longer than he’d like, and I think magnified some because it’s the start of the season, the first four starts.”
The bullpen also struggled for the second consecutive night.
After blowing a 3-2 lead the night before by allowing five runs in the seventh, Danny Coulombe and Emilio Pagan combined to allow five runs on Saturday, including three home runs.
“I think it can get contagious,” Melvin said. “Pass it on to the next guy, and there’s a little more pressure on the next guy to keep hold them down. I think it’s a little bit of an issue right now.”
Any time the A’s would build some momentum on offense, like in the seventh when Mark Canha’s solo shot was followed up by a two-run homer to center by Khris Davis two batters later to bring the A’s within two runs, that good feeling would get immediately zapped by the bullpen.
After the two A’s homers, Pagan surrendered a monstrous solo homer to Daniel Vogelbach that went over the restaurant at Safeco Field that hangs well beyond the wall in right field to put the Mariners (8-4) up by three.
The A’s sport an offense that is in the top 10 in MLB in runs scored with 71, but they have given up 84 runs, the second-most in all of baseball.
“We keep coming back, and we’re scoring runs. Similar to last night, we just can’t hold them down,” Melvin said. “We’re going to have to get some performances where we can hold them down some and hope our offense keeps swinging the bat the way it has been.”