Oakland Athletics Offense Flat Against Ian Kennedy, Padres

The Oakland Athletics will wait another day to be fewer than 10 games below .500, as the San Diego Padres’ pitching staff stymied the A’s offense and snapped their four game winning streak. Starting pitchers Kendall Graveman and Ian Kennedy battled for a combined 13 innings in the low-scoring contest, but a pair of home runs was enough to keep the Padres on top.

Highlights
This contest had the makings of a pitcher’s duel through the first three innings. Graveman and Kennedy allowed only three base runners through that point, and they both easily retired batters out of the stretch. Kennedy got some help from a familiar face, as former Oakland catcher Derek Norris (playing first base) ranged deep into the Coliseum’s foul territory to make a catch that ended Billy Butler’s at-bat.

Graveman made two pitches that were hit for solo home runs. The first was in the top of the fourth, when Matt Kemp reached for a breaking ball out of the zone and sent it over the left field wall. The second was a hanging changeup that Derek Norris hit for a no-doubt home run to left field in the top of the sixth.

The A’s responded with a home run of their own in the bottom of the sixth when Josh Phegley lifted a low fastball from Kennedy to left field. Marcus Semien threatened to tie the game by doubling with one out, but Kennedy finished the inning by inducing a ground-out from Josh Reddick and striking out Stephen Vogt. That would be it for the A’s offense for the remainder of the game.

The Padres scored an insurance run on an unusual play in the top of the eighth. With Melvin Upton Jr. on third, Justin Upton popped a fly ball into foul territory. Vogt, playing first base, chased and made the catch. Upton took advantage of Vogt’s position deep into foul territory, as well as his momentum carrying him away from the plate, and tagged up to score on the foul-out.

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The Good
Graveman continues to pitch well. The A’s worried that he was not ready for the Majors after four ineffective starts at the beginning of the season. However, he has lowered his ERA from 8.27 to 4.02 since being called back from Triple-A Nashville. In his last three starts, he has pitched 22 innings and only given up four earned runs.

The Bad
Outfielders Billy Burns and Reddick collided while jumping for a fly ball to the right field gap. Though Burns escaped in good enough shape to bring the ball back into the infield, Reddick was visibly shaken up. He remained in the game, but the A’s will certainly be keeping an eye on his condition.

Take Note:

• Friday is Sonny Gray Day. Gray has a Major League leading 1.60 ERA, and he will square off against Matt Shoemaker when the Los Angeles Angels come to Oakland. The Angels haven’t figured out Gray yet this season, batting only .165 against him through three games.

• Tomorrow’s game has an unusual 6:35 PM start time, and it is also fireworks night. Get to the park early!