A’s want longer look at Blackburn, demote Hahn

A’s pitcher Jesse Hahn said he was surprised and disappointed that he was optioned to Triple-A Nashville on Sunday.

Hahn was one of Oakland’s most reliable starters in his first 12 games (11 starts), posting a 3.56 ERA while striking out 54, walking 24 and yielding just one home run in 65 2/3 innings.

[...] his latest two starts were against the Astros, the league’s best team, and he got rocked for 15 earned runs in four innings, giving up three homers.

Manager Bob Melvin said Hahn’s demotion was more about seeing more of Paul Blackburn, who pitched six innings in his major-league debut Saturday, surrendering one run in six innings.

To fill Hahn’s roster spot, the A’s recalled reliever Zach Neal.

Hahn admitted to having “that dead arm feeling” and being a bit tired, which might have been a reason for his velocity dip.

“Taking a step back and getting my body right again and making sure I’m 100 percent healthy,” said Hahn, who spent time on the disabled list in late May and early June with a triceps strain.

[...] I have to do a better job managing the damage when I don’t feel good in terms of throwing strikes and getting ahead of hitters, putting guys away when I have two strikes on them.

For the first time, shortstop Marcus Semien played nine innings in a rehab game Saturday and hit a walk-off, two-run single to lead Nashville past Oklahoma City.