OAKLAND, Calif. _ Kendall Graveman rode the wave of a five-run Oakland second inning Wednesday in pitching the A's to a 5-1 win over the Indians, giving the club a series win over the American League Central's first-place team.
The team's de facto ace with Rich Hill traded and Sonny Gray on the disabled list, Graveman (10-8) became the A's first pitcher this season to reach double figures in wins. Hill had nine before he was traded to the Dodgers.
Graveman stretched his streak of consecutive scoreless games to 16 innings before Roberto Perez homered off him two outs into the seventh inning. Graveman left the game shortly thereafter, but the Oakland bullpen locked down his third win of August and his eighth win in his last 10 decisions.
Almost all the damage off Graveman came with two outs. In addition to the Perez homer, seven of the eight men to reach base against the right-hander came with two outs. The lone exception was Lonnie Chisenhall, who singled to open the fourth inning but was quickly erased by a double play.
In throwing 102 pitches, Graveman mostly kept his pitches down at knee level or lower; 11 of the 20 outs he recorded came as the result of ground balls.
Khris Davis started the A's five-run second inning rally of Trevor Bauer with a triple off the right field out-of-town scoreboard and after a Yonder Alonso walk scored when Ryon Healy stretched his hitting streak to 11 games with an RBI single.
One out later, Max Muncy's singled made it 2-0 and a line drive caught in right field off the bat of rookie Chad Pinder went for a sacrifice fly and a 3-0 advantage.
Bauer was almost out of the inning there, but with two on and two out, Danny Valencia hit a pop fly near first base that first baseman Carlos Santana lost in the sun. The ball fell untouched for what was originally called a two-run single, and Graveman was set. However, the official scorer changed the call after the game to an error, taking the hit and both RBI away from Valencia.
