Donaldson, Lowrie working out the kinks

ANAHEIM -- The A's went into Tuesday's game at Angel Stadium with two key offensive contributors, third baseman Josh Donaldson and shortstop Jed Lowrie, sputtering at the plate.

Donaldson was hitless in his past 16 at-bats, and was just 4-for-30 with two RBIs on the road trip that concludes Wednesday. Lowrie was hitless in his past 16 at-bats, and just 3-for-24 with two RBIs on the trip. Both participated in early batting practice, supervised by hitting coach Chili Davis, before the game against the Angels.

"We have some guys struggling now," manager Bob Melvin said. "We're not going to be perfect throughout the season. We're still a good offensive club."

Davis said that the two don't have any serious flaws and are just going through what all hitters endure during the long season. He said the cases of their struggles are different, however, because of their hitting styles.

"There's really not anything really wrong with either of them," Davis said. "Jed's problem mostly is that he's run into a little bit of bad luck here. He's hitting balls right at people.

"As for Josh, what I liked today when he took early hitting, is that he went out and did exactly what he's supposed to do. Not many hit the same style as Josh does, with that leg lift. The most important thing for him is, he's got to be under control. When he goes to lift his leg, his timing has to be right so that he sees the ball, and what direction he wants to put it.

"Everybody goes through this. In this game, if you have two really good months out of six months, you're probably going to have really good numbers. The rest of the time, you're just out there trying to minimize the damage."