Khrush 'feels great' to be back with A's

DETROIT -- A's manager Bob Melvin stepped out of his comfort zone to text out an "excited" GIF. Tony Kemp took to social media to capture a happy reunion. Oakland's clubhouse was all smiles. But the person who was most excited was the guy at the center of all the attention: Khris Davis, who was selected by the A's from Triple-A along with catcher Austin Allen as rosters expanded to 28 on Wednesday.

"It feels great," said Davis, who admitted to Melvin that he might be more thrilled about this career step than he was making his Major League debut in 2013. "I was at home for a couple of months and just working out. You don't realize how much you miss it until you're gone. I'm just thankful that the A's are giving me this opportunity.

"I have a lot of good baseball left."

Wednesday marked the end of a long journey back to Oakland that saw Davis traded to Texas on Feb. 6, released by the Rangers on June 13 and signing a Minor League contract with the A's on Aug. 4. The battle was difficult mentally more than anything: Davis was both a fan and team favorite in Oakland, where he spent five seasons and hit 158 homers, even earning AL MVP votes in 2017 and '18.

While the reunion was definitely an emotional one for all involved, the roster move was anything but a token gesture. After spending a week at the club's Arizona Complex League affiliate to get his timing back, Davis joined Triple-A Las Vegas and hit .333 with 10 home runs and 25 RBIs in 16 games from Aug. 12-31.-- the best HR and RBI totals in the Majors or Minors during that stretch.

"Where he came from and where he is right now can be a hard road," said Melvin, who said he and Davis communicated often throughout the past year. "To get traded, then get released, there's a period of time where you're not sure what's going to happen and you have to go back to the Minor Leagues, which obviously, he's been past that group before, and then do what he did to get back here, it takes some guts.

"I think it was just having to dig deep and do some soul searching and fight your way back to the big leagues."

"[There's] a lot of excitement [in the clubhouse]," Davis added. "They were all happy to see me; just smiles and a lot of hugs. And I'm just going to do what I can to help them make this playoff push."

The A's also added Allen, who appeared in two games and homered during a May 4-11 callup. He hit .321 with 20 home runs and 53 RBIs in 71 games with Las Vegas, including eight home runs and 18 RBIs in 18 games in August, highlighted by a three-homer game against Salt Lake on Aug. 9.

A’s join fight against childhood cancer
To lend support for Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, MLB raised awareness for childhood cancer during all games Wednesday. The A’s joined the Tigers, managers, coaches and umpires in wearing gold ribbon decals and wristbands during the game.

Because Oakland is currently on the road, the team will recognize Childhood Cancer Awareness Day at the Coliseum on Tuesday, when the A’s open up a three-game set against the White Sox. In addition to sporting the aforementioned yellow decals, the club will host Jack Delmore, a baseball player at Holy Names University who was diagnosed with lymphoma prior to this season; Charlie, a local wish kid through Make-A-Wish Greater Bay Area; and their families at the ballpark. The two will throw out the ceremonial first pitch ahead of the A's game, and the club will also highlight the work of the Make-A-Wish Greater Bay Area.

Approximately 15,000 children younger than 20 are diagnosed with cancer each year in the United States.

This day in A's history
2002: Miguel Tejada’s three-run walk-off homer gives the A’s a 7-5 victory over the Twins. The win marked Oakland’s 18th in a row, breaking the previous club record set by the (Philadelphia) A’s in 1931.