A’s can’t slow down Cleveland’s offense as losing streak reaches three

OAKLAND — José Ramírez hit a go-ahead single in the 10th inning after his RBI triple in the eighth gave Cleveland the lead, and the Guardians rallied to beat the Oakland Athletics 12-11 on Monday night.

Cleveland added an insurance run on a wild pitch by Trevor May (1-1), which the Guardians needed when Oakland got one back in the bottom of the 10th on Esteury Ruiz’s double.

Seth Brown hit a tying, two-run homer with two outs in the ninth for the A’s.

Brown struck out on an automatic strike in Oakland’s five-run second for a pitch-clock violation charged to the batter for taking too much time on a windy, unseasonably chilly April night in the Bay Area.

Josh Naylor homered leading off the fourth and hit an RBI single for the Guardians, who won their fourth straight after losing at Seattle on opening day.

Jace Peterson hit a three-run homer in the second and Ramón Laureano added a two-run drive in the fifth, but the A’s squandered an early 6-2 lead for James Kaprielian. Oakland rookie Ryan Noda doubled and singled while making his first career start playing first base.

Xzavion Curry pitched five innings of relief after Cleveland starter Zach Plesac was knocked out after allowing six runs on seven hits in one inning. James Karinchak pitched the eighth, then Emmanuel Clase (1-0) blew the save. He wound up with the win, and Eli Morgan earned the save in a game that took 3 hours, 19 minutes.

It was a tough season debut for Plesac, who endured a 12-start winless stretch over more than two months last year in which he went 0-7. He finished 3-12 after a 10-6 record in 2021.

The A’s have lost three in a row since beating the Angels on opening day. Oakland has lost six straight at home to the Guardians to match its longest skid ever at the Coliseum against Cleveland, which lasted from 1994 to 1995.

The A’s dropped the season series with Cleveland last year for the first time since 2016, going 1-6 for their worst mark since losing all seven matchups in 1995.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Athletics: RHP Paul Blackburn, recovering from a right middle fingernail that tore off, threw a two-inning side session of 40 pitches and is likely headed to Class A Stockton to begin a rehab program.

UP NEXT

RHP Shane Bieber pitches Tuesday night for the Guardians opposite Oakland LHP JP Sears.