With injury in past, A’s Canha has found his groove at plate

SEATTLE — Mark Canha missed 16 games around the AllStar break with a hip injury and did not take a minorleague rehab assignment before rejoining the A’s last Saturday. In his third plate appearance of his first game back, Canha was hit by a pitch from Cleveland’s Cal Quantrill. For the Oaklandera leader in career hitbypitches, it might have marked an official return.

“The first day was a little uncomfortable and I felt a little rusty,” Canha said Friday night. “But the second game, I felt like I was right back where I needed to be.”

Canha, the A’s leadoff hitter, has quickly resumed his primary function in their offense. Entering Saturday, he had hit safely in all six games since his return. He was 7for20 with three walks and three hitbypitches. Despite a threeweek hiatus, Canha began the day tied for the majorleague lead with 16 hitbypitches.

“I’ve just been telling myself to be patient with myself and kind of cut myself a break,” Canha said. “About the second day back I felt pretty good already, kind of maybe even a little better than when I went on the injured list, just because I had some time to think about how things were going. I wasn’t feeling good when I went on the injured list approachwise and it’s gotten better.”

Canha reached base four times Thursday night in the series opener in Seattle and twice more in a 43 loss on Friday. He did not score in either game. He began Saturday having scored two runs in the past week despite being on base 13 times, a reflection of the A’s struggles hitting with men on base. They left 14 runners on base in a 41 win over the Mariners on Thursday night and six more Friday.

That included a pivotal situation in the seventh inning. With Seattle starter Yusei Kikuchi out of the game after striking out 12 in six innings, the A’s loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh. Such scenarios have been a challenge for them. They entered Friday with the sixthlowest average (.224) in the majors with the bases loaded and thirdlowest OPS (.571).

Elvis Andrus faced reliever Paul Sewald. The righthander threw four fastballs, then two sliders. Andrus fouled the first slider, then waved at one low and away for strike three. It preserved a 33 tie that the

Mariners broke in the bottom of the inning.

“That’s a difficult situation,” Canha said of hitting with the bases loaded. “Everything is amplified a little bit. You get a lot more breaking stuff, a lot more pitches on the inner half of the strike zone. It’s just you get guys’ kind of best stuff in those situations. And it’s difficult to kind of stay within yourself and still be present in those atbats.”

Radio: NBCSCA, unless noted

Canha added: “We’re winning games, so I don’t really think about those kind of things.”

Canha had worked a ninepitch walk against Sewald ahead of Andrus’ strikeout. Canha struck out in his first two atbats against Kikuchi — saying Kikuchi’s use and effectiveness of his changeup “kind of caught me off guard” — and lined an RBI double on a slider in his third atbat. “A number of reasons we needed him back — not only does he get hits and drive in big runs at times, he’s getting on base, he’s making pitchers work, you get a good look at what they have just based on his atbats,” manager Bob Melvin said of Canha. “He’s a pretty tenacious atbat every atbat. He doesn’t throw any away.”

Ted S. Warren / Associated Press A’s leadoff man Mark Canha had hits in each of his first six games after coming off the IL.