A’s pitcher makes history with unlikely at-bat at Yankee Stadium
We’re sure Oakland A’s pitcher Kendall Graveman had visions of making history when he arrived for Wednesday’s start at Yankee Stadium. His vision probably didn’t include swinging a bat though, but that’s how things ended up playing out.
[Elsewhere: ESPN fires Curt Schilling after latest controversy]
In the fourth inning of Oakland’s 5-2 victory against the New York Yankees, third baseman Danny Valencia was forced to leave the game after straining his hamstring on the basepaths. That set off a domino effect that ultimately led manager Bob Melvin to lose his designated hitter, which meant Gravemen had to enter the lineup in Valencia’s No. 4 spot.
When Gravemen’s spot came around one inning later, he became the first starting pitcher to ever log an at-bat at the new Yankee Stadium. It came in a big spot too with two men on base and two outs in the inning. Yankees manager Joe Girardi had starter Nathan Eovaldi intentionally walk Josh Reddick to set up the at-bat, and Gravemen was predictably overmatched, striking out on three pitches in his big league at-bat.
As evidenced by the final score, the circumstances did not come back to haunt Oakland, but they’re certainly worth talking about. Melvin opted to give up his DH for a better defensive alignment, since his short bench didn’t have any options that would plug in well on the infield. Instead, he moved Chris Coghlan from second to third base while designated hitter Jed Lowrie moved to second base.
It’s strategy that may have been questioned had Oakland ultimately lost the game, but it’s one Melvin is clearly comfortable using given his team’s bench situation. As Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle points out, this is already the fourth time Oakland has given up its designated hitter this season to fill an infield need. If Valencia’s forced to miss extended time though, they’ll obviously have to figure out a way to improve their infield depth.
It ended up being a moot point in Wednesday’s game thanks largely to Graveman’s excellence on the hill. Over 6.1 innings, he allowed just one run on three hits to pick up his first win of the season.
[Join a Yahoo Daily Fantasy Baseball contest now]
For what it’s worth, the pitcher’s spot in the order only came up one additional time during the game. Billy Butler singled as a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning and came around to score on Khris Davis’ two-run single.
More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports:
– – – – – – –
Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
