Offense stays steady as A's topple Rockies

Remember in the not-so-distant past when the A’s struggled to create offense at the Coliseum?

For the time being, those problems seem to have been amended -- and perhaps all it took was a trip away from home.

The A’s continued to swing the bats well on the road with a 9-5 win over the Rockies on Friday at Coors Field, further contrasting the struggles they just experienced in their own confines.

“The reality of it is, throughout the course of the season you’re not always going to bang out six, seven or eight runs. It’s just not the way it works,” said outfielder Mark Canha. “There’s some peaks and valleys and we kinda hit a little slow patch there for a while. We had an off day then broke it open a little bit today.”

On an evening when there was no shortage of contributors, it was Canha who shined brightest.

Canha stuffed the box score with two hits, two runs, two RBIs, two walks and an opposite-field home run to top it off. Given how well Canha has played on both sides of the ball, it wouldn’t be all that surprising to see him make a trip back to Denver next month for the Midsummer Classic.

“If he feels responsible, he’s pretty responsible in that spot,” Melvin said of Canha in the leadoff role atop the A's lineup. “He’s been unbelievable, better than you could expect. It took a while in Spring Training. As soon as the season hit, he had it down.”

Canha set the tone up top for an evening in which everyone had his own fun at the dish. Sean Murphy had three hits and three RBIs, including an opposite-field home run of his own. Matt Olson, Jed Lowrie, Matt Chapman and Tony Kemp all reached base multiple times as well.

The only member of the starting lineup who didn’t reach base was starting pitcher Frankie Montas, although his lack of offensive contributions can be excused -- he was just happy to at least make contact.

On the mound, Montas allowed three runs across five innings with only one walk, not his most dazzling line of the season but a fine one considering how the Mile High City can affect all pitchers who toe the rubber at Coors Field.

“It’s weird to pitch here,” Montas said. "The pitches don’t move how you want it, but I’m just glad I was able to go out there and get a win for the guys.”

For the A’s, the nine-run explosion was the continuation of the work their offense did in Seattle. In four games on its current road trip, Oakland has averaged eight runs, totaling at least 10 hits in every contest thus far. In each of the last three games, they’ve had a big inning where they’ve scored four or more runs.

Compare that to the team’s seven-game homestand against the Mariners and Angels last week at Oakland Coliseum, when the A’s averaged just three runs. Given the contrast between last week's struggles and this week's bounty, consider this current road trip a bit of a regression to the mean.

Right in the middle of Oakland’s hot stretch on the road is Olson. During this trip, Olson is 9-for-17 with four extra-base hits, including a homer. With two more hits on Friday, Olson extended his streak of reaching base multiple times to five games -- a streak that Melvin thought extended back even farther.

“Just the last five games? It seems like he’s been doing it all year,” Melvin said. “Whether it’s walks, whether it’s hits, whether it’s homers, you look at his numbers across the board, he’s been the most consistent offensive force for us. I’m putting him down as a given and I look for other spots to add on because he’s been so consistent for us this year.”