OAKLAND — Kendall Graveman used his cut fastball with great success in his previous outing, and so it was he went to the pitch trying to get ahead in the count on a couple of occasions Saturday night.
The results were different this time. Seattle’s Nelson Cruz and Robinson Cano each jumped on first-pitch cutters and sent them rocketing over the wall in center field. Two swings, two home runs, and the two most crucial moments in the A’s 4-3 loss to the Mariners at the Coliseum.
Both pitches caught too much plate — in the fourth to Cruz and in the fifth on Cano’s two-run shot.