Oakland A’s right-hander Kendall Graveman made his way to the plate for the first time in nearly a decade Wednesday night in a rare instance of a pitcher batting in an American League ballpark.
Graveman, who started for the A’s against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium, was told to grab a bat during the top of the fifth inning after an injury to third baseman Danny Valencia prompted a series of changes to Oakland’s lineup.
Second baseman Chris Coghlan took Valencia’s spot at third, and Jed Lowrie shifted from designated hitter to second base. The loss of the DHÂ meant Graveman would assume Valencia’s place in the batting order — which just so happened to be the cleanup spot — and rather than go to his bullpen early, manager Bob Melvin opted to send the 25-year-old righty to the plate.
“I hadn’t stepped in the box in eight years,” Graveman said after the game, via SFGate.com. “But you want to go deep in the ballgame, so an at-bat there was big because it showed I was still in the game.”
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Graveman was no match for flame-throwing Yankees starter Nathan Eovaldi, striking out on three pitches. He made up for it with his work on the mound, though, allowing a run on three hits over 6 1/3 innings to help the A’s take home a 5-2 win.
The victory was Graveman’s first since July 4.
