Why A's Slugger Khris Davis' Clutch Hit Vs. Twins Was Just What He Needed

A's slugger Khris Davis hasn't hit a home run in a month, but he has delivered for Oakland in each of its last two wins.

The night after notching two RBI singles, Davis drove home the tying and go-ahead runs in the A's 5-4 win against the Minnesota Twins on Saturday night at Target Field. Oakland was down to its last out, but had two men on base after Minnesota closer Taylor Rogers hit Mark Canha with a slider and allowed a double to Ramón Laureano. 

"Most of all I think it was big for Khris because he's come up big in those situations so many times for us and if anybody needed a little bit of a spark, it would be Khris," A's manager Bob Melvin told reporters after the game.  "That was a huge hit."

In addition to a sudden lack of power, Davis has seen his batting average fall. The 31-year-old is slashing just .218/.299/.244 since June 19 -- a day after he hit his last home run. 

But Davis now has hits in each of his last four games, and all but two since the All-Star break. Only one has been of the extra-base variety -- a double in Thursday's series opener with the Twins -- yet Melvin thinks it's only a matter of time before Davis regains his power.

"My guess is he's going to hit another home run here at some point," Melvin joked. "When he does, he's going to be off to the races. But, we'll take a big hit right there which he's done many times for us. He's felt better in the last few days. That was big for him, and it was big for us."

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Davis has two career home runs to his name at Target Field and will have a chance to add a third if he is in the lineup for Sunday's series finale in Minnesota. That would end a drought that pre-dates the start of the summer, and provide further proof that Davis is back on track. 

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