Joshua Kuroda-Grauer Has Memorable Debut in Forgettable A's Loss

A's No. 9 prospect Joshua Kuroda-Grauer spent last week in Sacramento playing against the River Cats as a member of the Las Vegas Aviators — the A's Triple-A affiliate. He woke up Monday morning in Utah, ready for the next series on the schedule. 

Then he got the call that it was time to make his MLB debut. He was in the A's lineup, playing second base and batting ninth. 

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"In a way, I'm kind of glad that I got the call on such short notice, because if they would have told me last night, I wouldn't have slept a lick," Kuroda-Grauer said. 

His first at-bat in the big leagues came in the second inning and resulted in a game-tying RBI single. He said heading into that plate appearance was probably the most adrenaline he's felt in his life.

"It's just surreal," Kuroda-Grauer said of his chats with Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts around the basepaths after the game. "You play with these guys in video games, then you get to be on the field talking with them. Just guys I've watched my whole life, being on the same field as them, and then they congratulate me. Just great guys, all of them."

Kuroda-Grauer collected his second hit in the sixth inning, and then with the A's trailing 9-3 in the ninth, he led off the inning with a hustle double and later came around to score the first run of his career on a wild pitch to give the game its 9-4 final. 

"It was the best day of my life," Kuroda-Grauer said. 

Dodgers Get the Jump on Gage

For the first time in his big-league career, A's starter Gage Jump allowed a home run — a fourth-inning blast to Max Muncy. The left-hander had arguably the worst start of his MLB career, going just 4 ⅔ innings, giving up 11 hits and five earned runs, striking out five. 

The left-hander didn't have his best stuff in this one. His breaking pitches were inconsistent and his changeup wasn't being thrown for strikes, which allowed this tough Dodgers lineup to sit back and hunt the heater. 

"Frustrating" is how Jump described his outing after the game. "After I gave up two, [the offense] put up three, and I just couldn't hold it. Yeah, frustrating." 

His manager, Mark Kotsay, had a slightly different view of his performance, saying his starter battled, even without his best stuff. 

"I think the takeaways are you didn't have your best stuff," Kotsay said. "You got through the lineup to a point where you kept us in the game. It was a 5-3 game when you came out of the game by just grinding. We're gonna learn from this outing. A tough one for him, but one that I definitely think will make him better." 

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