OAKLAND -- You can’t blame the A’s for feeling like lightning was about to strike twice.

The scenario was nearly identical: They entered the bottom of the ninth trailing on a day when the offense was struggling to get much going at the plate. Jed Lowrie, who played hero on Friday night with a walk-off homer, came off the bench in a pinch-hit spot representing the potential game-winning run. But this time, he flied out against Cleveland right-hander James Karinchak for the first out of the inning.

Though Sean Murphy’s sac fly later in the ninth cut the deficit to a run, the attempt at a second straight late comeback victory was snubbed after Mark Canha grounded out to finish a 3-2 loss to the Indians on Saturday afternoon.

“We have a lot more offensively. Our potential is more than we’re doing,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “We got some baserunners with a chance to win a game. We just didn’t get a big hit there at the end.”

The ninth-inning comeback attempt was a great chance, but there was an even greater opportunity that was squandered earlier in the game.

With Aramis Garcia and Canha reaching on back-to-back hit-by-pitches to load the bases in the fifth, the A’s seemed to have Indians starter Cal Quantrill on the ropes. Oakland was trailing only by one run at the time, so the bases-loaded, no-out situation presented an opening to at least tie the game. But in a season where situational hitting has been a flaw proving tough to overcome, Saturday provided another harsh example.

Elvis Andrus was up first with the bases loaded and proceeded to hit a sharp grounder to third base to begin a 5-2-3 double play. After Matt Olson drew a walk to re-load the bases, Mitch Moreland -- who doubled home the game’s first run in the first inning -- flied out to end the frame. The A’s came away from the fifth with zero run production.

“If [Elvis] hits that ball five feet to the right or left, we probably score two runs and he’s the guy being interviewed right now,” Moreland said. “That’s the way it works. All you can do is hit it hard. He put the barrel on it and did everything he was supposed to do, [he] just hit it right to where a guy was standing.”

The struggles with situational hitting are only exacerbated for the A’s when in bases-loaded scenarios. After Saturday’s fruitless performance, Oakland now ranks 29th in OPS with the bases loaded (.564) among all Major League teams, trailing only the Pirates.

It’s a stat that leaves Oakland players perplexed, mainly because they believe their offense possesses the ability to rank at the top of the league in most categories.

“Man, I don’t know,” Moreland said. “All I can say is, if you put yourselves in those opportunities, we’re giving ourselves a good chance to win games. We keep getting guys [on base] -- it’s going to come through. This team is too good.

“Our lineup is too good to keep leaving guys on. We’re just kind of in one of those ruts.”

The lack of run production left Frankie Montas, who continued what has been a strong run over the past month, stuck with a tough-luck loss. The A’s right-hander struck out seven and allowed just two runs on six hits across six innings, marking his fourth straight outing in which he’s allowed two runs or fewer.

Montas’ only two runs allowed came in the fifth, when an RBI double by Cesar Hernandez was followed by Amed Rosario’s sacrifice fly, quickly flipping what was a 1-0 lead into a 2-1 deficit for the A's.

Scoring runs behind Montas has been an issue for Oakland's offense, particularly when he starts at home. In his last seven starts at the Coliseum, Montas has received a total of 14 runs of support. That’s a big reason why his record over that stretch is now 1-5 despite posting a 3.02 ERA.

“He pitched well,” Melvin said. “A lot of times, you’re going to win that game. Those are the types of games you expect out of good starters. We just didn’t do enough offensively to win a game.”