A’s lose at home to Cleveland Guardians, unable to rebound from 4-run inning
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Guardians’ four-run second inning ended Mitch Spence’s streak of one or fewer runs.
- A’s bullpen held Cleveland scoreless over 4 1/3 innings to limit further damage.
- Late-game hits from Urias, Wynns and Rooker provided A’s two runs.
Coming into Saturday night’s matchup with the Cleveland Guardians, A’s starting pitcher Mitch Spence was on a hot streak. In three starts since moving out of the bullpen on June 3, he had surrendered one run or fewer in five innings of work apiece.
Led in by “Animal I’ve Become” by Three Days Grace, Spence was ready to do it again, but Guardians leadoff hitter Steven Kwan was looking to put his streak in jeopardy early.
A 99-mph fly ball into left-center field nearly broke scoring open, but it stayed in play for a double. Spence was later able to work out of the jam after getting six-time All-Star Jose Ramirez to pop out to third base with one out and Kwan on third.
Unfortunately for Spence, the double wouldn’t be so easy to overcome in the following frame.
Back-to-back two-baggers off the bats of Bo Naylor and Johnathan Rodriguez had not only given up a 2-0 Guardians lead but had also broken Spence’s earned-run streak as they also plated Nolan Jones, who reached on a walk.
The lefty sluggers Kwan, Ramirez and Kyle Manzardo followed that up with back-to-back-to-back, two-out singles that put the A’s down 4-0. While the home squad rallied late, the deficit was too much to overcome as the Athletics fell by a final score of 4-2.
“It was a little frustrating, that second inning, because it seemed like that decided the game. There’s going to be times like that especially for me who relies on getting weak contact. Stuff just going to find holes,” Spence said. “I made a couple good pitches that they put some good swings on. I also made some pitches that got left over the middle that they did some damage on.”
With the series split at a game apiece after a 5-1 A’s victory Friday, the teams will meet again Sunday at 1:05 p.m. at Sutter Health Park to decide the series. The A’s fell to 32-47 on the season while Cleveland improved to 38-37.
‘Great night by the pen’
Before Saturday’s game, A’s manager Mark Kotsay said a key to Spence’s success was mixing in the sinker, which would allow him to open up the plate.
While data website Baseball Savant had Spence at just five sinkers in his 85-pitch outing, Kotsay said he liked the fight the starter showed in the 2 2/3 scoreless innings he pitched after the four-spot.
“He got himself back into a good rhythm, made some great pitches after the second to get through 4 2/3. Overall, I think he kept us in the game as the best he could,” Kotsay said. “(The sinker) is a pitch that he’s got to utilize. He might not have had a great feel for it tonight so they went away from it a little bit but, overall, the one inning that he made the mistakes in was just balls up in the zone.”
After inheriting two runners from Spence, A’s reliever TJ McFarland got Nolan Jones swinging to close the door and begin a strong outing from the bullpen. While each inning saw at least one Guardian reach base, both Sean Newcomb and Hogan Harris threw two scoreless frames.
“They totally picked me up,” Spence said. “To go out there and eat those innings and keep the score to what it was, gave us an opportunity to win.”
The A’s bullpen entered the game with the highest combined ERA in Major League Baseball at 6.10, including a stretch over the last 42 games in which it is pitching to a 7.50 ERA with 12 blown saves.
“The job that McFarland, Newcomb and Harris did tonight, really, we haven’t seen that from our bullpen,” Kotsay said. “That was a great night by the pen.”
Butler ejected; late-game push by offense
After falling into an 0-2 count with two outs in the fifth inning, A’s outfielder Lawrence Butler was feeling deja vu, and not in a good way.
Guardians starter Luis Ortiz, who had thrown 4 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball to that point, had already gotten Butler down 0-2 twice, and struck him out twice.
Three competitive takes later, the A’s leadoff hitter was back ahead in the count with Luis Urias on first base.
The 3-2 pitch came in: a low fastball that bordered on touching the edge of the box, per MLB.com’s Gamecast strike zone.
Home plate umpire Ryan Blakney made the strike-three call, and shortly thereafter, following a brief protest from Butler that included a hand gesture claiming the pitch was nowhere close to the strike zone, an ejection call.
Butler’s three strikeouts contributed to the team’s 10 against Ortiz and 13 total on the night. It was the second game in a row where the A’s had double-digit strikeouts.
“He had his best stuff tonight. Normally, he’s a guy that will spread the ball a little bit,” Kotsay said. “That was shown too with the amount of strikeouts, even looking. Painting the corners. All night he was on the edges, and that makes it difficult, especially when it’s a sinker.”
No. 8 hitter Urias singled twice, lined out sharply twice and scored the A’s first run in the seventh inning off an Austin Wynns double.
An eighth-inning triple from Brent Rooker led to the home team’s only other score after a sacrifice fly from Max Muncy plated the first baseman.
“The character of the ball club, the culture that they have in that room continues to grow,” Kotsay said. “We understand that we still, as an offense, have a chance to come back in games.”
Injury updates
The A’s opening day starting catcher Shea Langeliers, who left a June 5 matchup with the Twins with a strained left oblique, was seen by MLB.com’s Martin Gallegos taking batting practice on the field before Saturday’s game. The A’s beat writer said he was “hitting bombs.”
Langeliers has slashed .237/.300/.430 with 10 home runs in 56 games so far this season.
Relief pitcher Jose Leclerc is working through a throwing progression, but is unlikely to return from his right lat strain until well after the All-Star Break, Kotsay said.
This story was originally published June 21, 2025 at 11:43 PM.
