Hendriks giving A’s reliable late-game relief

ARLINGTON — Liam Hendriks has emerged as a dependable late-inning relief option, just as the A’s planned — albeit a few months later than expected.

The right-hander has been excellent of late, quietly cruising through traffic to the tune of a 1.91 ERA since being reinstated from the disabled list on June 19. He had an 8.27 ERA in 11 outings before the DL stint, which proved to be just as much of a mental break as a physical relief.

Hendriks, acquired from Toronto in the offseason, was admittedly pressing too much in the early going of his A’s tour, “and when you try to be perfect,” he said, “you never are.”

He was slowed by a triceps injury that forced him to miss 37 games, but it was during that time he regained feel for his slider, a pitch he only threw approximately 13 percent of the time before his DL trip.

“I just wasn’t comfortable throwing my slider, and it wasn’t quite coming out the same way it had,” Hendriks said. “I was overthrowing it, trying to do too much with it, and it kind of …

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