The Cleveland Guardians already have been assured of a losing nine-game road trip, but they can make the ending feel better if they can defeat the Athletics on Sunday afternoon at West Sacramento, Calif.
The Guardians are 3-5 entering the finale after posting a 4-2 victory over the Athletics on Saturday night. The victory was just the squad’s fifth in its last 15 overall games.
Cleveland opened the trip to the Northwest by losing three games against the Seattle Mariners and winning two of three against the San Francisco Giants. The Guardians have split two games against the Athletics, falling 5-1 on Friday before bouncing back Saturday.
Cleveland did all its scoring on Saturday in the second inning, sending nine batters to the plate and getting five hits.
Star third baseman Jose Ramirez finished the uprising with a single to make it 4-0 and record his 900th career RBI.
The six-time All-Star ranks fifth in franchise history in that category. Earl Averill is the leader with 1,084, followed by Jim Thome (937), Nap Lajoie (919) and Hal Trosky (911).
Bo Naylor drove in the first run on Saturday with an RBI double. He was impressed with the team’s offensive production during the frame.
“I think that inning was a pretty good example of what we’re like at our best, putting a lot of pressure on the pitcher and having good at-bats and passing it to the next guy,” Naylor said.
The Athletics have been playing well, and Saturday’s setback was just their third in the past nine games.
The A’s struggled with Guardians starter Luis Ortiz, who matched his career best with 10 strikeouts in six innings. Overall, the club fanned 13 times.
“I think he had his best stuff,” Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said of Ortiz. “There weren’t many balls in the middle of the plate, that’s shown by the amount of strikeouts looking.”
Slugger Nick Kurtz never put the ball in play — striking out three times and walking once — after homering in five of the previous six games.
Lawrence Butler fanned in all three of his at-bats. He was ejected in the fifth inning after objecting to a called third strike.
Luis Urias had two of the Athletics’ five hits. Austin Wynns had an RBI double and Max Muncy drove in the other on a sacrifice fly.
Standout shortstop Jacob Wilson was hitless in four at-bats, dropping his average for the month to .377.
Slade Cecconi (2-3, 4.15 ERA) will start Sunday’s contest for the Guardians.
The right-hander defeated the Giants on Tuesday when he gave up two runs and four hits over five innings. He has allowed two runs or less in each of the past three starts.
Cecconi, who turns 26 on Tuesday, made his lone start against the Athletics on June 28, 2024, as a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks. He allowed three runs and five hits over four innings in a no-decision.
Athletics left-hander JP Sears (5-6, 5.45) will be looking to bounce back from a rough outing. He served up three homers and gave up five runs and five hits in 3 1/3 innings while losing to the visiting Houston Astros on Tuesday.
Sears, 29, is 1-4 with a 9.29 ERA over his last seven starts after bringing a 2.80 ERA into the stretch.
Sears is 0-2 with a 5.50 ERA in 18 innings over four career appearances (three starts) against Cleveland. Steven Kwan is 4-for-9 off Sears, while Gabriel Arias is 3-for-7 with a homer and three RBIs.
–Field Level Media
