Manaea still in the mix

Despite Sean Manaea’s rotten stretch lately, the A’s have no plans to skip his next turn in the rotation, manager Bob Melvin said Sunday.

Because Manaea threw just 28 pitches in the worst outing of his career Saturday, the light workload essentially equates to being skipped as it is, Melvin noted. And the A’s have a day off before Manaea’s next scheduled start at Houston on Friday.

Melvin said that Manaea’s bullpen routine will be adjusted: instead of throwing his bullpen two days after a start, he will go three days later.

“Hopefully, he’ll be a little more refreshed his next time out,” Melvin said. “Anytime a guy that good struggles the way he has, it’s a concern, but over the course of a career, guys are going to go through that.”

Manaea’s fastball has lost a tick, from 92-93 mph in July to just over 90 mph Saturday. He allowed seven runs in onethird of an inning.

“You hate to say ‘dead arm,’ ” Melvin said. “At this point in time, (the velocity) seems like it’s down a little bit. We’re still trying to figure out why because he does feel good.”

Manaea has allowed 11 earned runs his past two starts and in his past five appearances, he has given up 20 earned runs in 191⁄3 innings.

“Physically, he feels good. That’s the most important thing,” Melvin said. “He’s going through a tough stretch and (Saturday) was the toughest of the stretch. There are times you’ve got to settle in and say, ‘What are my strengths?’ and just do that . ... It’s just a tough period for him. He’ll get through it.” Unusual sight: It was exactly the right play, but looked odd: when Mark Trumbo hit a drive to center in the fifth inning Saturday, 6-foot-5 first baseman Matt Olson covered second and tagged out Trumbo trying to stretch.

“They teach us on double cutoff situations, they want the first baseman beating the guy to second,” Olson said. “That was my first instinct, but I haven’t made that play before. That was a first for me.

“I didn’t feel uncomfortable, but I was getting down for the throw at second base thinking, ‘This isn’t normal.’ The throw was to my right, I had to spin around. I was a little lost.”