Canha tweaks swing

Mark Canha spends most of his time these days planted on the A’s bench. That’s not an easy transition for a player who has made 260 starts in his career, including 97 this season.

Canha has used some of his time to tinker with his swing. The results are showing on this homestand: Canha smacked a three-run double Tuesday against the Angels and a tworun, pinch-hit homer Friday against the Twins.

Canha is 5-for-12 this season as a pinch-hitter — he was hit by a pitch Saturday while batting for Nick Martini. Canha’s tied for second among American League pinch-hitters in homers (two) and tied for third in RBIs (five).

“I’ve kind of been in this role for a while now, and I take pride in it,” Canha said before Saturday night’s game. “It’s cool to

come up as a pinch-hitter and know Bob (Melvin) trusts me in that situation.”

During Canha’s recent inactivity — only two starts in Oakland’s past 15 games — he has found sanctuary in the batting cage, where he decided to tweak the movement in his swing.

The way he put it, he’s trying to “get into his front side more” rather than staying back.

“That seems to be working,” Canha said. “It’s keeping me through the strike zone a little longer. It’s a simple adjustment, and you can see some quick results.”

Trivino’s travails: Reliever Lou Trivino was so reliable in the season’s first four months, it was jarring for the A’s to see him struggle for much of August (nine runs in one stretch of 82⁄3 innings) and again in his past two appearances (seven runs).

Trivino allowed four hits and four runs Friday night, without retiring a batter. Melvin acknowledged Saturday he might find a “softer spot” for Trivino to pitch while he tries to find a solution.

“We’re not going to run away from him, the way he’s pitched for us this year,” Melvin said. “We also have some guys down

there who can lighten the load for him. … It just looks like the ball is straightening out on him a little bit.”

Briefly: A’s right-hander Trevor Cahill, who hasn’t pitched in two weeks because of tightness in his back, will start Sunday. … Radio broadcaster Ken Korach missed Saturday night’s game in the wake of a minor car accident late Friday night outside the Coliseum. Korach plans to return to the booth Sunday.