A’s Pitcher Bats Cleanup vs. Yanks

Kendall Graveman pitched 6.1 innings last night as the Oakland A's beat the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium by a score of 5-2. The right-hander allowed one earned run and registered eight strikeouts, but it wasn't his work on the mound that made history...

Yes. Graveman got to BAT. In an American League Stadium. He was also batting fourth and is the first pitcher to hit in that spot since 1920 and Babe Ruth.

Here's what happened:

Danny Valencia started the game at third base for the A's, but left the game with an injury. Simple enough. So, the A's moved Chris Coghlan from second to third. Also simple enough. But the A's then moved Jed Lowrie from the DH position to second.

When you remove the designated hitter and insert him into the field, you insert your pitcher into the lineup. Because Graveman was entering the lineup for Valencia, he enters in his spot, which was cleanup.

He struck out in his lone plate appearance.

Graveman made further history: