Graveman tosses 2-hitter, Davis homers as A's rout White Sox
CHICAGO (AP) - Kendall Graveman was so dominant it left Oakland Athletics manager Bob Melvin searching for a clock.
"I was looking to see what time it was. It felt like it was an hour and 55-minute game, at least on his end," Melvin said. "We've seen him pitch well. We've seen the sinker, we've seen the cutter. We just haven't seen a shutout like this."
Graveman faced one batter over the minimum while throwing a two-hitter, Khris Davis hit his 31st home run and Oakland beat the Chicago White Sox 9-0 on Friday night to hand James Shields his 15th loss.
Graveman (9-8) allowed leadoff singles to Jose Abreu in the third and Adam Eaton in the seventh. Both were immediately doubled off first on line drives. Justin Morneau reached on an error by first baseman Yonder Alonso in the eighth.
Graveman struck out five and needed 97 pitches for his second complete game of the season and his first career shutout.
Time of game: 2 hours, 23 minutes.
"I thought we mixed pitches, especially second and third time through," Graveman said. "I wanted to kind of keep some guys off balance and then went right back to the bread and butter, the sinker."
Stephen Vogt and Alonso also homered for the A's, who snapped a five-game losing streak.
Shields (5-15) matched a career-high for losses in a season set with Tampa Bay in 2010. The three homers allowed gave him a major league high-tying 29 and the six earned runs in 4 2/3 innings gave him a major league-high 91.
The right-hander has allowed 27 earned runs in 14 innings over his last four starts for the White Sox, who have dropped 10 of 13.
"Lately, I'm not getting the job done with runners on base," Shields said. "When you give up homers it's fine, as long as no one's on. That's not what I'm doing right now. I need to get better at that."
Shields walked three, including .211-hitting Max Muncy in the second to force in a run. Davis hit a solo shot to left in the third and Vogt and Alonso connected with two outs in a four-run fifth.
Davis also singled, doubled and scored three runs and Vogt added an RBI double for the A's, who had scored three or fewer runs in 12 of their previous 19 games.
Graveman came in having allowed five home runs in his last four starts. But the 25-year-old righty set a career-high for wins as he takes over a bigger role with the A's disabled list loaded with 15 players, including Sonny Gray.
"We're seeing a guy grow. We're seeing a competitor," Alonso said of Graveman. "We're seeing a guy pound the strike zone, tons of ground balls. It's a lot of fun."
TRAINER'S ROOM
Athletics: RHP Jesse Hahn (shoulder) will come off the DL and start Sunday. That moves RHP Zach Neal to the bullpen. . RHP Henderson Alvarez (shoulder surgery) is scheduled to throw a 25-pitch bullpen Saturday with Josh Phegley (knee) catching. . LHP Sean Doolittle (shoulder) will throw again Saturday for Triple-A Nashville and could rejoin the team next week.
White Sox: 2B Brett Lawrie, on a rehab assignment for a hamstring injury, experienced quadriceps soreness earlier in the week. He was scratched from the lineup Friday for Double-A Birmingham. . OF Avisail Garcia (knee) is expected to begin a rehab stint in the next few days.
CRISP PLAYS
A's LF Coco Crisp led off and went 0 for 5 in his 95th game of the season. He will need to play in 35 of the final 40 games to reach 130 and trigger a $13 million vesting option for 2017. Crisp told reporters earlier in the week he feels the A's are intentionally trying to keep him from that mark.
SEMIEN'S STREAK
A's SS Marcus Semien had an RBI single in the eighth while playing in his 124th consecutive game. But that streak may soon end.
"His wife is going to have something to say about that," Melvin said.
Semien's wife is due Saturday.
UP NEXT
White Sox ace Chris Sale (14-6, 3.30 ERA) seeks his first win since July 2 when he faces fellow lefty Ross Detwiler on Saturday night. Sale has allowed eight earned runs and 15 hits in his last two starts.