By Morris Phillips

It never gets old.  But it never looks like a proper way to treat a hero.

But in this case, the A’s Mark Canha will take it even if the whip cream takes forever to wipe off, and the Gatorade is way, way too cold.

The A’s captured a close game late—a rare feat for Oakland in 2015 with the A’s mired in last place—as Canha delivered the game-winning double off the left field wall in the 10^th inning off Indians’ reliever Cody Allen.

With the win, the A’s gained an unlikely split in a four-game series where they went the first 18 innings with only three hits and one run. The team also picked up ace Sonny Gray, who went seven innings allowing just one run in the first inning, but left without the possibility of getting a win.

Canha had been struggling coming into his game-winning at bat, and while the whipped cream on his brow clearly labeled him the hero, Canha deflected some of the credit to Sam Fuld, who scored the winning run.

“I was just really rooting Sam on when I hit it to run as fast as he could,” Canha said.  “Sam has great speed and (Cody) Allen was paying a lot of attention to him over there, and maybe that helped me get in a good hitter’s count.”

“That’s always tough, whether it’s pinch-hitting or whether it’s coming in unexpected mid-game.  We do enough of them where guys are ready for them, but it doesn’t mean it’s easy,” manager Bob Melvin said of Canha’s impromptu dramatics.

Not one batter on either team managed to pick up more than one hit, a sure sign of pitcher’s duel and likely a lengthy game.  While the A’s were fortunate to gain a split, Cleveland manager Terry Francona expressed frustration that his team couldn’t capture three of the four games.   But when pitchers pitch like they did in this series, some frustration is par for the course.

“We have to do a better job of manufacturing runs or scoring runs,” Francona admitted.

The A’s are expected to activate Coco Crisp for Monday’s home game against Baltimore after a lengthy stint on the disabled list to deal with his nagging neck injuries.  If so, expect a changing of the guard as Billy Burns has quickly established himself as a rookie of the year candidate as well as the A’s leadoff man of the future which means Crisp will likely bat second in the order upon his return.

Jesse Chavez will get the start on Monday in a matchup with Orioles’ rookie Tyler Wilson, who is expected to be recalled for the fifth time this season as a replacement for Chris Tillman, who has an ankle injury and will be skipped in the Baltimore rotation.

NOTES: Nothing could more important for the A’s in the remaining 56 games than having one or more players establish themselves as a force on the club going forward into the 2016 season.  Reliever Fernando Abad appears to be the first guy to answer the call with his 1 1/3 of scoreless relief on Sunday, extending his streak of not allowing a run to 10 2/3 innings.  Abad struck out two batters, including Fernando Lindor with two runners on to end the eighth.