OAKLAND — When his phone rang Friday morning and Marcus Semien saw it was manager Bob Melvin calling, he knew what the topic would be.
Melvin decided it was finally time to give his shortstop a day off, the first for Semien after he had started all of Oakland’s first 96 games. That was the longest season-opening streak of starts for an A’s player since another shortstop, Miguel Tejada, started all 162 games back in 2003.
“Any time you see Skip calling or texting, you know you might be off,” Semien said.
Arismendy Alcantara is starting at short Friday night against Tampa Bay and hitting ninth.