by Jerry Feitelberg

AP photo: Kendall Graveman Oakland A’s starter pitches to visiting Cleveland in the first inning Wednesday afternoon at the Oakland Coliseum

OAKLAND–The A’s beat the Cleveland Indians 5-1 Wednesday afternoon at the Oakland Coliseum. The A’s, behind another strong performance by Kendall Graveman, took the three-game series, two games to one. The A’s,  for the third game in a row, did not allow the Indians more than one run in the contest. Andrew Triggs, although he lost the game, Sean Manaea and now, Kendall Graveman are showing signs that the A’s are building a solid rotation for the future.

Graveman has become the ace of the staff. He has won nine of his last eleven starts, and his record is now 10-8. Also, his ERA is now 3.97 and is the lowest since April 25th. Graveman went six and 2/3rds innings and allowed just one run and six hits. Marc Rzepczynski, Ryan Dull, and Ryan Madson closed out the game for the A’s. Trevor Bauer took the loss for the Indians.

The A’s scored all their run second inning. Khris Davis started the rally with a triple. Ryon Healy, who extended his hitting streak to eleven games, singled to drive him in with the A’s first runs. Max Muncy and Chad Pinder also had RBIs in the frame to give the A’s a 3-0 lead. The Green and Gold plated two more runs when Indians first baseman Carlos Santana overran a Danny Valencia popup that allowed two more runs to score. Santana was charged with an error, and those runs were unearned.

The Indians scored their only run in the top of the seventh when the Indians’ catcher, Roberto Perez, homered to right field. The umpires reviewed the play and the call was upheld.

Game Notes- The Indians’ starter, Trevor Bauer, gave up all five runs, three of which were earned and nine hits. Bauer saw his record drop to 9-6.

The A’s have an off-day Thursday as they travel to St. Louis to play the Cardinals over the weekend.  Ross Detwiler (1-2) will pitch Friday night.