MINNEAPOLIS – With the A’s struggling to score runs, lineup changes were inevitable and Thursday saw one in the heart of the order.
Khris Davis, who had been the cleanup hitter in all 26 games he’d started, was shifted to the No. 3 slot with Yonder Alonso, who had mostly hit in the fifth-through-seventh slots, served as the cleanup hitter.
Alonso had never started in the No 4 position before this since joining the A’s last year, although he made 72 starts as the cleanup guy, mostly with the Padres before that.
“It’s funny, because Khris asked me the other day when he was going to be batting third,” Manager Bob Melvin said.