CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The Guardians extended their winning streak to four games by sweeping the Oakland Athletics with a 6-2 win in Sunday’s series finale.
Cleveland has now swept Oakland in back-to-back series at Progressive Field. The A’s have lost seven in a row in Cleveland. The Guardians have also won 17 of their last 20 games against the Athletics dating back to the start of the 2022 season.
The Guardians struck first when Will Brennan sent a 1-0 pitch 370 feet to right field. The second-inning home run was Brennan’s second of the season.
“Being patient and staying within myself,” Brennan said. “I think I’ve gotten a little outside myself to start the season trying to do too much. Today, I kind of took a step back and just played the game.”
Brennan doubled and scored in the fourth inning as well. He also had a diving catch in right field to rob Seth Brown of extra bases.
“Outside of the pinch hit homer in Boston, that double the other way was the best swing I’ve seen him take,” manager Stephen Vogt said. “He’s on the fastball but he’s able to adjust to the off-speed. Will had outstanding at-bats today, and made a great diving catch in right field as well. Big day out of Will.”
Cleveland scored again in the third and fourth innings on a pair of two-out RBI singles by Andres Gimenez and Gabriel Arias.
The Guardians added three more runs in the seventh inning. Bo Naylor led off the inning with a double to right field, and Josh Naylor capitalized with a three-run double down the right field line.
“This guy can just flat out hit,” Vogt said. “It’s a credit to him and the work he’s put in, but also just his tenacity and focus. He loves the big moment and he comes through for us. It’s awesome.”
Josh Naylor extended his hit streak to nine games, batting .324 with a .622 slugging percentage in that span. He also leads the club with 20 RBI this season.
“He’s an animal,” Tanner Bibee said. “He makes pitchers throw the pitches he wants. I don’t know how he does it. It’s really fun to watch.”
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The A’s first base hit came in the second inning when Zack Gelof singled on a ball hit off his teammate Ryan Noda’s shoulder at first base. The ball had an exit velocity of 105.8mph. It ricochetted off Noda’s left shoulder into right-center field.
Tanner Bibee threw 26 pitches in the second inning. He got out of the inning by striking out Kyle McCann with two runners on base.
Bibee gave up a leadoff solo homer to Brent Rooker in the fourth inning. Rooker hit the ball 368 feet, just enough to land over the yellow stripe on the left field wall.
“I kind of got burned from these guys earlier in the year, but I feel like I shouldn’t of,” Bibee said. “So I think being able to come back and throw a pretty good start was definitely a good step in the right direction, and I think it’s a sign of a little growth for me.”
Bibee pitched 5.2 innings in his fifth start of the season. He allowed two runs on five hits, walked two batters, and recorded eight strikeouts.
“He was outstanding,” Vogt said. “He did everything we could have asked of him. The changeup was really good early, and his fastball command was better. He had a different look on his face today. You could tell he was ready for this game and went out and did his job.”
Bibee has now worked five-or-more innings and allowed three-or-fewer runs in 26 of his first 30 career starts. He was credited with the win, his first against the American League West in his career.
A’s starter Ross Stripling was charged with the loss. He allowed three runs in five innings of work. Stripling is now 0-5 this season, and 0-10 in his last 27 games pitched. He’s the second Oakland pitcher in franchise history to lose five-or-more starts to open the season. The first was Mike Morgan in 1979 when he started the season 0-6.
16,905 fewer fans will attend Progressive Field on Monday than in the series finale against the A’s. It’s the team’s third off-day so far this season.
The Guardians (16-6) return to action on Tuesday when they welcome the Red Sox (13-10) into town for a three-game series. Last week, Cleveland won a four-game set against Boston at Fenway Park. Ben Lively (0-1, 3.60 ERA) will open the series on the mound for the Guardians.