Vogt optioned to make room for Straily

OAKLAND -- The No. 21 uniform and locker room nameplate remained, but Stephen Vogt was nowhere to be found. A green catcher's mask was laying upward with no one to wear it.

In his place was Dan Straily, clean shaven and ready to start in Thursday's series finale against the Cubs after his fourth stint to the Minor Leagues of the season. Vogt was optioned to free open a roster spot for Straily, who had been sent to the Minors because the A's recent schedule required only four starters.

Straily has a career-high three-game winning streak over his last seven starts, though he's tossed fewer than five innings in each of his last two starts, allowing eight runs in eight innings. His start Thursday will be his first since he was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento on June 23. He was the losing pitcher in Sacramento's 8-1 loss last Friday, when he allowed nine hits and six runs, though only two were earned.

"We want to see a consistent outing like he was rolling off for a while," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "His last couple of starts weren't his best, but before that, he had really started to establish himself for the first time in the big leagues pretty consistently. I'd like to see that type of effort."

Melvin said Jarrod Parker is still expected to start Saturday against Kansas City, and he said the club is taking care of the right hamstring tightness that forced his early exit on June 29. Oakland will now resume using the five-man rotation it has used for the majority of the season.

"I don't think anything's promised to anybody in this game, but certainly this is a guy who we target to be that guy," Melvin said of Straily's role in the rotation. "He's had some success up here and we look forward to continued success."

Vogt hit .154 in four games, including his first Major League hit, a home run last Friday against St. Louis that snapped an 0-for-32 streak dating back to last season to open his career.

"This is a guy who we hadn't seen since Spring Training and had been putting up gaudy numbers in Triple-A, and he came up here and did a great job for us," Melvin said. "Every game he played, we won. He had the confidence of the staff, not only the starters that he caught, but the relievers as well.

"This is just more about numbers than anything else. It's not like he did anything that would suggest he needs to go down."