By Morris Phillips

Kendall Graveman seems to know what it takes.  For the A’s, that’s a starting point.

Graveman was demoted on April 26 after stinking it up in four starts with an 8.27 ERA.  But his time at AAA Nashville was productive as the 24-year old righty improved his fastball command and cleaned up his secondary pitches as well.

Not only did Graveman clean up his act on the mound, he got his mind right as well.

“Even this morning getting up and eating breakfast and thinking about, ‘Hey, what is my job?  What can I control?  I can control making a pitch and getting guys out.”

“He had a plan with every batter and was hitting his spots, pounding the zone,” infielder Eric Sogard said of Graveman.

And on stormy night in Florida at a typically, half-empty Tropicana Field, Graveman made it happen, shutting down the Rays for six innings in the A’s 5-0 win that ended a four-game losing streak.

With Graveman mowing them down, the A’s balky offense gained time to find its bearings.  And after being held in check for five innings by Tampa Bay’s Nathan Karns, Oakland broke through in the sixth with four runs on just three hits.

This time, the Rays’ defense proved shaky and Xavier Cedeno was the overburdened, middle relief man.  For the A’s that alone was a departure from the norm in a season where the A’s have nosedived, unable to win close games or win during daytime.  But those trends changed as Cedeno inherited Karns’ two baserunners with two outs.

Sogard welcomed Cedeno with an RBI single, then Mark Canha drew a walk to load the bases.  Sam Fuld was next and he knocked in a pair of runs with a single to center.  But Kevin Kiermaier booted the ball in center trying to make a quick exchange and then catcher Rene Rivera dropped the ball at the plate when he appeared to have a chance to tag out Canha and save a run.

For the record that was two errors on the same play, and a dreaded unearned run, which has typically scarred the A’s this season.  But this time the shoe was on the other guy’s foot, and the A’s were in business.

After Graveman departed, Evan Scribner threw a pair of innings, allowing just one hit, and Tyler Clippard closed it out with a scoreless ninth.

With the win the A’s remain 13 ½ games out in the AL West and they’ve won just 15 of their 45 games thus far, but they finally got some good news if Graveman can continue his improved pitching.

On the injury front, Coco Crisp was placed on the disabled list with his re-injured neck which made room for Graveman’s promotion.  Also, Sean Doolittle appears closer to making his 2015 debut, probably on the A’s upcoming homestand that begins Monday.