A for alignment: Oakland arms, bats in sync

OAKLAND — Not long ago, the A’s were mired in an ugly stretch of play that saw them lose 10 of 11 games. Now they are rounding into form, having finished off an impressive three-game sweep of the Rangers on Wednesday for their fourth consecutive win.

An all-too familiar scene played out in the 8-1 finale victory: Khris Davis continued his power tear with his 12th home run of the season, capping off a four-homer series that included three dingers — including a walk-off grand slam — in Tuesday’s contest.

Then there was Rich Hill, stringing together six innings of one-run ball like clockwork, as the A’s continued to build off of Sunday’s thrilling victory against Tampa Bay — highlighted by Danny Valencia’s three-homer day — that snapped a five-game losing streak.

“That’s a good team,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said of the Rangers. “They were in first place when they got here. To be able to build off the Tampa series, after what was a real tough road trip for us, we talked about it earlier today with the momentum. Especially with that last game, it carried over to this series. It was good to sustain it and win three in a row.”

The A’s are finally witnessing strong pitching performances …

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