By Morris Phillips

Ben Zobrist wasn’t thinking about how he would look in the uniform of a contender.  The A’s jack-of-all-trades was too busy Sunday turning double plays and squaring up Tim Hudson’s offerings to worry about what the upcoming trade deadline might bring.

Drew Pomeranz didn’t seem concerned about whether he would get a starting assignment on Wednesday with an important relief stint staring him in the face on Sunday.  The reliever/starter entered Sunday’s game in the sixth inning focused on getting outs, and that’s what he did, keeping the A’s within a run of the Giants in two innings of scoreless relief.

And Kendall Graveman might not know whether he’s coming or going, but he knows he’s got to get better.  The A’s starter on Sunday lasted less than two innings, allowing seven hits and a pair of walks.  Whether he’s in Oakland, or sent back to AAA Nashville, the 24-year old has to regain the form he showed in his six, impressive starts after a previous, minor-league demotion.  Fortunately, Graveman already knows the process.

“I’ve got to continue to work, work in my bullpens, talk to my catchers, talk to Curt (Young),” Graveman explained.  “What do we have to do to be better?”

No one can question that the A’s were all business during their working weekend in San Francisco, it’s just that they didn’t handle much business.  The A’s battled back on Sunday after Graveman’s short afternoon left them in a 4-1 hole, but still came up short in a 4-3 loss.  After being swept by the Giants, the A’s are back in the American League cellar, a place filled with enough frustration and uncertainty to drive somebody crazy if they let it.

“It’s been a crazy four days for us, thinking back to Kazmir’s (departure),” Stephen Vogt said.  “Obviously now there’s more looming and we know that.  Definitely dropping these three games made (things worse).  It’s baseball, it’s the business.  It’s the way it is.  We just have to try to keep our heads clear.”

Unlike last year when the A’s were among the best teams in baseball and heading to a near-certain post-season berth, the A’s are down and out in 2015, 12 games behind the Angels in the AL West with 62 to play.  That means changes are inevitable, starting with Kazmir’s trade to Houston and ending who knows where in the days leading to the trade deadline on Friday.  Zobrist appears likely to depart, and Vogt may be gone too if the price is right.

But for those that remain, the goal is unchanged: play better, and get Athletics baseball back on the right track.  If Oakland’s your home, make it the best home it can be.  Sunday’s winning pitcher Tim Hudson did that, and after a 16-year career that’s taken him on to Atlanta and now San Francisco, the memories remain.

“I spent a lot of fun years over there—a lot of great memories, a lot of great success,” Hudson said.  “The only familiar faces over there now is the front office and the medical staff.”

Due in great part to his own individual success, Hudson never experienced a season in Oakland like the A’s are enduring now.  In Hudson’s six seasons as an Athletic, the team finished first or second in the AL West every year, won fewer than 91 games only once (1999) and made four consecutive post-season appearances.

This season will halt a string of three consecutive post-season appearances for the A’s.   In less than a year, the team’s seen a whole lot of changes since they held the best record in baseball after 112 games last season.  But everyone currently in the Oakland clubhouse knows the history, and the likelihood that success will return.  They just have to survive the rollercoaster ride and be ready for the winning to return.

On Tuesday, the A’s visit Dodgers Stadium in a matchup with NL West-leading Los Angeles.  The A’s will have Sonny Gray on the mound in a matchup with familiar face, Brett Anderson at 7:05pm.