ANAHEIM - The A's collection of individual highlights during their visit to Angel Stadium shouldn't have equated to a three-game sweep for their opponent.
Jesse Hahn fired eight one-hit innings Tuesday, the same night Josh Phegley delivered a pinch-hit homer in the 10th before the A's lost in 11 innings. On Thursday, Kendall Graveman turned in perhaps the defensive play of the 2017 season by a pitcher, recording an unassisted double play that was the first by an A's pitcher in 46 years.
All great moments to relive in the clubhouse afterward, but surely they ring a bit hollow given the final outcomes. The A's were swept by an Angels team that, like Oakland, has been hit hard by the injury bug. Los Angeles is without key relievers Huston Street, Andrew Bailey, Cam Bedrosian and Mike Morin, not to mention starter Garrett Richards among others.
Yet the Angels pitching staff twice held the A's to one run over the three-game series, including Thursday's 2-1 defeat, when the A's mustered just three hits.
"We're a little streaky right now," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "… Give them credit, they pitched really well, and they really are down a lot of guys in the bullpen. We would expect to do a little more damage."
They couldn't Thursday, and that it made it tough to savor Graveman's incredible play the way they should have.
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With runners on the corners and no outs, he fielded Juan Graterol's comebacker and caught Ben Revere in a rundown between third and home. Graveman ran him down and after applying the tag, hurdled Revere and made the tag on Cliff Pennington, who was trying to advance from first to third in the chaos.
"That's probably the best play I've ever seen a pitcher make, hurdling over an (opponent) to get the second out unassisted," Melvin said. "I didn't even know how to put that one down on my card."
Graveman, one of the A's better overall athletes, was asked if he'd ever recorded an unassisted double play before.
"Never. I don't know that I've ever seen one," he said. "(Ryan) Madson said he's never seen one and he's watched over 2,000 games."
Incredibly, the last A's pitcher to pull off an unassisted double play previously was in attendance Thursday night. John "Blue Moon" Odom did it back on July 11, 1971, also against the Angels. Odom attends most of the A's games in Anaheim, and he's struck up a friendship with Graveman over the years.
"Every time we come here and even in spring training, I try to catch up with Blue Moon Odom and see how he's doing," Graveman said. "He and Wash (former A's infield coach Ron Washington) are friends so we always cut up about Wash. He's a great guy. He sits in the front row. He came in and saw me right before stretch and told me ‘I'm gonna be front row watching you.' That is pretty neat that that happened."
A's first baseman Yonder Alonso said he's never surprised to see Graveman make a great defensive play.
"The guy's a pitcher, but it feels like he's a shortstop playing the position."
Graveman was visited by trainers after the fifth-inning play, but Melvin said it was mainly to give the pitcher a breather and let him get his adrenaline under control. Neither Graveman nor his manager revealed anything specific that bothered Graveman. Seeing him stay in the game and complete six innings of two-run ball had to be encouraging for Melvin.
"The first thing I asked him was ‘What'd you fall on?'" Melvin said. "He said, ‘My butt.' I said, ‘Well, you're all right then.' But you're not gonna see that play again probably."
The A's are giving their manager and fans some accomplishments to marvel over. As they move on to Houston trying to halt a four-game losing streak, they just need to figure things out on the scoreboard.
