Young A's arms Cotton, Puk make mark vs. Tribe
MESA, Ariz. -- A's corner infield prospect Rangel Ravelo's go-ahead homer in the eighth inning lifted the home team past the defending American League champion Indians, 5-4, at Hohokam Stadium on Tuesday afternoon.The A's also got home runs from infielders Marcus Semien and Trevor Plouffe, while the Indians relied on
MESA, Ariz. -- A's corner infield prospect
The A's also got home runs from infielders
Prospect
• As advertised: Cotton, Puk impress Melvin
Cotton didn't allow a hit but was tagged for one run in a strange second inning that featured a third-strike wild pitch, a walk and a hit batsman. The Indians secured their second run on another wild pitch in the third, after outfielder
Indians relief extraordinaire
"I've faced him a lot, so I have a good idea of what he's trying to do," Plouffe said. "It's spring. I wasn't sure if he was just working on stuff or not, but I saw him throw a lot of fastballs before my at-bat, and I said, 'Hey, maybe he's not throwing a slider,' and then he busted one off, so I said, 'OK, he's running all his pitches out there.' I wasn't trying to do too much, and that's usually when good things happen at the plate."
"[Miller] went to fastballs, which we want him to do," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "More than he would normally. That's fine. He was 91-96, so we saw a little bit of an increase. That was good."
Semien's two-run shot in the first inning off Cleveland starter Mike Clevinger was his first of the spring. The A's shortstop totaled a career-high 27 last year.
"He threw 30 pitches. That's a lot," Francona said of Clevinger, who was supposed to throw two innings. "He just didn't locate his fastball, and he knew it. Sometimes -- you don't ever want to see guys give up runs -- but in a way it kind of reinforces a lot of the things maybe that they talk about. And he'll learn from that. It's OK. You'd rather see it in February than later."
A's right-hander
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Jane Lee has covered the A's for MLB.com since 2010.
Jordan Bastian has covered the Indians for MLB.com since 2011, and previously covered the Blue Jays from 2006-10.