Khrush’s first game back was ‘big for him, big for A’s’ originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
It was a familiar sighting as Khris Davis approached the plate for the Athletics on Thursday in their 8-6 win over the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park.
In the top of the fourth inning, Davis came into pinch hit for Jed Lowrie and hit a ground-rule double to score Matt Olson. It was quite the welcome back for Davis, who was called up to the big league club Wednesday.
The dugout celebrated accordingly.
“Big for him, big for us, and like you said, it was a great reaction,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said after the game.
On the day, Davis went 2-for-3 with two hits.
“We were all happy for him,” A’s starter Frankie Montas said. “We’re happy he’s here. I told him today when he got a hit, ‘It feels good to be back where you belong, huh?’”
Davis signed a minor-league deal with the A’s last month, and slashed .333/.382/.921 with a 1.303 OPS in Triple-A before his call-up. The A’s, of course, previously had traded Davis away to the Texas Rangers on Feb. 6 for Elvis Andrus and prospects, but Davis never found his groove and was designated for assignment in June.
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A’s utility man Tony Kemp said he’s never seen a clubhouse light up like that like it did when Davis arrived on Wednesday in Detroit. They solidified his arrival with a selfie.
Part of the reason the A’s had Davis pinch hit for Jed Lowrie was that Lowrie has a “wrist thing going on,” and Melvin liked the matchup with a left-hander on the mound.
The A’s also were up seven runs during that point, but that didn’t appear to matter.