Davis keys win:
Resurgent Khris Davis hits a two-run single as the A’s complete a sweep of Texas with a 6-4 victory.
Khris Davis thinks he has found a remedy for his swing. On Thursday, that swing produced one of the key hits for the A’s in their sixth consecutive win.
Davis’ basesloaded, tworun single fueled a fourrun fourth inning in a 64 win as Oakland finished a threegame sweep of the Rangers ahead of a charged weekend series against the Astros.
Davis had two singles Thursday and also lined out sharply in his first atbat, marking his second straight multihit game since a 1for21 start that dropped him out of an everyday role in the A’s lineup. In his past two games, Davis is 4for6 with a home run and, notably, zero strikeouts.
Recently, manager Bob Melvin said Davis was working on a small adjustment to his setup with hitting coach Darren Bush. After Thursday’s game, Davis explained he is starting with his hands slightly higher and farther back.
“It’s just been helping me be more accurate to the ball, and I’m finding less swings and misses and a little better contact,” Davis said on a video call. “Just having (the hands) further back, less room to go, they’re just always ready to fire, and it’s been working.”
The change, Davis said, “felt pretty comfortable right away. Usually when you have to make an adjustment and you feel it click, you just run with that and don’t look back. It has brought some comfort within the box, so I’m going to keep working with it.”
Melvin said Davis’ past three games have featured “really good swings. … He’s pulling some balls now, he’s not late on them. I know he feels good about his swing right now, and so do I.”
Davis led the majors in homers (48) two years ago but slumped in the second half last year and began this season by striking out in 10 of his first 23 plate appearances. Davis tried to play with a side injury last season and suggested Thursday an effect carried over.
“Our hitting coaches, Bushy and (Eric Martins), we’ve been working nonstop to try to figure out what’s going to work,” Davis said. “I think when I got hurt, I’ve been getting set up in a different way. My body just wasn’t adjusting to that injury. And when I just put my hands further back, it just kind of freed things up.”
If Davis regains his form, it would provide a boost for an A’s lineup that appears to be stirring after a quiet start. The A’s hit six homers in their first two games against Texas and had five players drive in runs Thursday. Matt Olson homered and Mark Canha and Sean Murphy had RBI singles. Murphy’s followed a sacrifice bunt — the A’s first of the season — by Stephen Piscotty, who also had a sacrifice fly.
For now, Davis is essentially a platoon player as the A’s hope he can compile good atbats and build confidence. Davis has started three of the A’s past eight games, all three against lefthanders.
Davis said, “Just got to capitalize on my opportunities that I do get. It’s s—, but I’ve been here before. I’ve lost my job before a couple of times and had to battle back. This is nothing new to me.” Matt Kawahara covers the A’s for The San Francisco Chronicle. Email: mkawahara@ sfchronicle.com Twitter: @matthewkawahara