Gray was scheduled to pitch Thursday against the surging Toronto Blue Jays, but according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, he was scratched in favor of Jesse Chavez due to back spasms. Manager Bob Melvin told reporters in Toronto that the A’s may have to bring up another starting pitcher if Gray isn’t available Friday.
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But the right-hander developed back spasms and could not pitch and they faced Jesse Chavez instead of Gray, who leads the American League with a 2.06 ERA.
Doubront pitched 61/3 innings in relief on Wednesday in a 10-3 loss to the Blue Jays. Brad Mills will start Friday, with Chris Bassitt expected Saturday and Kendall Graveman on Sunday. Chavez used his cutter to strike out nine in six innings. His one mistake was a pitch to Blue Jays shortstop Ryan Goins in the second inning that resulted in a three-run home runs. “Pitched well against a hot lineup”.
“We’ll monitor him and see how he feels in Baltimore”, he said. We’ll get him in there when we feel it’s the proper time to get him in there. “At this point we’re not sure”. Chavez was originally picked up from the Jays back in 2012, so this will be a game against his most recent former team.
He also had seen him as an opponent in college.
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“I think he went in with the right attitude”, Athletics catcher Josh Phegley said. “Before he went home he had a pretty good idea that he was going to start today”. Slusser adds that the problem likely isn’t serious enough to cost Sonny more than a few days, but it’s still a bummer for A’s fans who just suffered through two rough games and were hoping to show Toronto the one nice thing we do have. He’s going to throw with conviction, say “here it is hit it” and if you hit him, you hit him.
