OAKLAND, Calif. _ Looking to get out of his rough stretch to begin the season, Oakland Athletics' Kendall Graveman changed things up.
Everything was different from Graveman Friday night against the Boston Red Sox. His usual warm-up song, Lynard Skynard's "Sweet Home Alabama," was ditched in favor of Young Jeezy's "Put On." Graveman utilized a modified wind up that saw him bring his hands to his waist as opposed to bringing his hands over his head like he normally does. The new approach seemed to be working early on, but the struggles eventually returned in a 7-3 loss in front of 23,473 fans at the Coliseum for Matt Chapman jersey giveaway night.
After surrendering a three-run home run to Jackie Bradley Jr. in the second to tie the game 3-3, Graveman retired 11 Red Sox batters in a row and appeared to be getting back on track. But he came unglued in the sixth.
Three straight singles to begin the sixth loaded the bases for the Red Sox (17-3) leading to A's manager Bob Melvin removing Graveman for Emilio Pagan. The first pitch from Pagan, a slider left in the heart of the strike zone, was crushed by Mitch Moreland over the wall in right field for a grand slam to give Boston a 7-3 lead. With three of those runs charged to Graveman, it was another ugly final line for the A's No. 1 starter as he allowed six runs on seven hits with no walks and six strikeouts over five innings of work.
Graveman has failed to go past the fifth inning in his first five starts this season and is now 0-4 with an ERA sitting at 10.07. He is tied with Cole Hamels for most home runs allowed by a pitcher in the majors with seven.
The A's (9-11) loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh, bringing Matt Joyce as a pinch hitter for Mark Canha. Joyce took Matt Barnes to a full count, but struck out to leave the bases stranded.
Jed Lowrie continued to be one of the hottest hitters in baseball by collecting four hits, including two doubles, and an RBI. His 32 hits and 22 RBIs lead the majors in both categories.
Josh Lucas, who was just called up from Triple-A Nashville before Friday's game, saved the bullpen big time in his A's debut.
The right-hander tossed three scoreless innings, inducing double plays in both the seventh and ninth inning to keep the A's deficit at four runs.
The A's got to Red Sox starter Drew Pomeranz early as Lowrie's RBI double to right and RBI singles by Matt Olson and Canha gave Oakland a 3-0 lead in the first. Making Pomeranz throw 65 pitches in the first two innings, the A's chased him out of the game after just 3 2/3 innings.
