OAKLAND — Kendall Graveman gave the A’s beleaguered rotation a lift by outlasting early trouble Sunday and his persistence was rewarded when Matt Chapman blasted a three-run homer in the fourth inning, sending Oakland to a 9-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.
Graveman, making his third start since 2½ months on the shelf with a sore shoulder, couldn’t keep the Orioles off the bases early. Seven of the first 12 batters he faced got hits, but he limited the damage to a pair of runs, and wound up pitching seven effective innings.
That was a huge boost for a rotation that labored over the past week.