By Morris Phillips

OAKLAND — No longer stuck in last place after winning four of five, the A’s could have leapfrogged the Mariners, Rangers and Angels in the AL West on Sunday by sweeping the Indians at the Coliseum.

Instead, they couldn’t muster a third day of last at-bat heroics, losing the series finale to Cleveland, 5-3. Now the A’s face a far, different reality: hitting the road for a nine-game trip–where they’ve been dreadful–while staring at a season-worst 7 1/2 game deficit behind the first place Astros.

Call it the Mother’s Day swing, and we’re not talking about Dallas Braden parading his grandmother across the diamond. At some point, the A’s figure to play better baseball, but they don’t want to get to far behind in the division. Back-to-back playoff appearances would be great, but the A’s want no part of the crap shoot as a wild card again.

“You’re not playing great, you’ve got to find ways to win the games,” manager Bob Melvin said. “We did, obviously some dramatic and late. The offense still isn’t what we expect it to be. It will come around.”

Offensively, the A’s weren’t much better than they were on the 1-8 road trip that ended a week ago. They foraged 43 hits and a barely bearable 17 runs on the six-game home stand, but they won. Winning four of six was a nice bounce back, but not quite what 5-1 would have meant.

“Would have liked to sweep them today, but [if] we keep winning series, we’ll be in a good spot,” said Matt Olson, who advanced his offensive game by homering for the first time this season.