Sacramento A’s Nick Kurtz (16) tosses his bat after being walked by the Cleveland Guardians in the bottom of the eighth at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento on Fri May 1, 2026 (AP News photo)

By Mauricio Segura

WEST SACRAMENTO–For a while under the West Sacramento Friday night, the Sacramento Athletics looked ready to begin May the same way they ended April, with strong swings, strategic running, and just enough swagger to remind everyone they had spent five straight days alone atop the American League West. The A’s lead would diappear with the Guardins scoring three run in two different innings in the 8-5 final.

The A’s entered the night 17-14, their best record after 31 games since 2021, and they had won six of their previous nine. That early-season rise gave this matchup with Cleveland some extra weight, especially against a Guardians club that had given the Green and Gold trouble for years.

The first inning had danger written all over it for J.T. Ginn. Steven Kwan opened with a single, Chase DeLauter followed with another hit, and José Ramírez walked to load the bases with nobody out. Ginn, making his fifth start of the season after beginning the year in the bullpen, needed a trap door and found one. He struck out Kyle Manzardo, punched out Rhys Hoskins, then got Daniel Schneemann to fly out to right. It was a clean escape from a filthy mess.

The Athletics answered like a team that smelled a chance. Shea Langeliers, who came in swinging a hot bat after a three-double game against Kansas City, lined a single to right with one out in the bottom of the first. Nick Kurtz popped out, bringing up Brent Rooker, who entered the night stuck in an 0-for-20 skid. Rooker did not tiptoe out of it. He launched a two-run homer to left-center, his third of the season, snapping the drought and giving the A’s a 2-0 lead. For a hitter just back from the injured list, it was less a slump-breaker than a door kicked open.

Cleveland did not stay quiet. In the second, Travis Bazzana walked, Bo Naylor singled, and after Ginn nearly worked free again, DeLauter ripped a two-run double to right to tie the game. Ginn settled down in the third and fourth, retiring six straight, but the Guardians made him work for everything.

The A’s reclaimed control in the fourth with a bit of old-school baseball. Darell Hernaiz and Tyler Soderstrom walked, Colby Thomas moved them over with a sacrifice bunt, and Zack Gelof shot a ground-ball single to left to score both runners. Jeff McNeil followed with a single that put runners at second and third, but Jacob Wilson was thrown out at the plate on a fielder’s choice, a call that stood after an Athletics challenge. Still, the A’s had rebuilt a 4-2 lead.

Then came the inning that changed the temperature of the night. Ginn walked Kwan, DeLauter, and Manzardo around a Ramírez popout in the fifth, loading the bases for Hoskins. The Cleveland first baseman punished him with a sharp two-run double to right, tying the game at 4-4. Hogan Harris replaced Ginn, but Angel Martínez lifted a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Manzardo and giving Cleveland its first lead at 5-4.

The Guardians kept adding pressure. In the seventh, Hoskins homered to left off Justin Sterner, then Cleveland stretched the inning after Bazzana walked. Bo Naylor doubled him home, and Brayan Rocchio followed with another double to score Naylor, pushing the lead to 8-4. It was the kind of inning that turns a manageable game into a steep climb.

To their credit, the Athletics did not fold. Wilson singled to open the bottom of the seventh, Langeliers walked, and Kurtz drew another walk, continuing his remarkable on-base habit and loading the bases with nobody out. Rooker came through again, lining an RBI single to left to bring in Wilson and make it 8-5. The rally had a pulse, but Erik Sabrowski struck out Hernaiz and Soderstrom before Thomas flew out to center, leaving the bases loaded and the night’s best comeback chance stranded.

The A’s threatened once more in the eighth after McNeil doubled (the 200th of ihs career), and Wilson reached on an error, but Shea Langeliers and Kurtz struck out to end the inning. Cade Smith then handled the ninth with little drama, retiring Rooker, pinch-hitter Carlos Cortes, and Soderstrom to close Cleveland’s 8-5 win.

For the Athletics, Rooker’s return to impact was the brightest sign, with a homer and three RBIs after his career-long hitless stretch. Gelof’s two-run single and McNeil’s double also gave the lineup life. But Cleveland’s patience and extra-base punch won the night, with DeLauter, Hoskins, Naylor, and Rocchio all delivering big swings. The A’s built two leads, lost both, and learned the hard way that against Cleveland, missed chances tend to come back wearing spikes.

Starting pitchers for Saturday: Cleveland RHP Slade Ceccone (0-4 ERA 6.23) for Sacramento LHP Jacob Lopez (2-1 ERA 5.84) first pitch 1:05pm PDT at Sutter Health Park.

Costa Rican-born Mauricio Segura has been covering sports in the Bay Area since 2001 for a variety of magazines and newspapers, as well as his own publication, Golden Bay Times.

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