Sacramento A’s Brent Rooker slides into home plate safely in the bottom of the fourth in the second game of a three game series against the Cleveland Guardians at Sutter Health Park on Sat May 2, 2026 (AP News photo)

By Mauricio Segura

WEST SACRAMENTO–The Sacramento Athletics looked ready to punch the Cleveland Guardians first and keep swinging from the starting gate Saturday, that didn’t happen as Guardians manager Stephen Vogt and his group of Guardians poured it on the A’s in a 14-6 decison at Sutter Health Park on Saturday.

Jacob Lopez opened with a clean first, getting Steven Kwan to pop out, Angel Martínez to fly out, and José Ramírez to line out. Then the A’s offense walked in like it had somewhere better to be. Nick Kurtz started the bottom of the first with a ground-ball single to center, and Shea Langeliers followed with the loudest possible hello, launching his ninth home run of the season to center field for a quick 2-0 lead.

That early blast fit the way Langeliers has been swinging lately. He entered the day tied with Jacob Wilson for the most multi-hit games in the majors and had been one of the hottest bats on the roster. The A’s also came in sitting atop the AL West for a sixth straight day, carrying the kind of early-season confidence that can make a ballpark feel a little louder than the attendance number.

But Cleveland has been a thorn in the Green and Gold’s side for years, and Saturday became another reminder that the Guardians do not usually need an engraved invitation to make a mess. Austin Hedges cut the lead to 2-1 in the third with his first homer of the season, but the A’s answered in the fourth when Brent Rooker singled, Jacob Wilson beat out a ball to the pitcher, and Jeff McNeil drove in Rooker on a grounder to left after the Athletics successfully challenged the tag play. That made it 3-1, and for a moment, the A’s had the game in their hands.

Then the fifth inning arrived wearing muddy boots.

Hedges opened with a double, and after Brayan Rocchio lined out, Kwan singled him home. Martínez followed with another single, and Ramírez did what stars do when the door is cracked open. He drove a two-run double to center, turning a 3-2 A’s lead into a 4-3 Cleveland advantage. Ramírez then stole third and scored on Rhys Hoskins’ sacrifice fly, capping a four-run inning that flipped the entire afternoon.

Langeliers tried to drag the A’s back into it by himself, crushing his second homer of the game in the bottom of the fifth, this one a line drive to left-center for his tenth of the season. The blast pulled the Athletics within 5-4 and gave him three RBIs on the day. But every time the A’s found a spark, Cleveland came back with a bucket of water and a bigger match. David Fry opened the sixth with a solo homer to left, pushing the Guardians ahead 6-4.

The A’s still had one more honest push. Carlos Cortes singled to begin the sixth, Wilson ripped a double to center, and McNeil brought Cortes home with a sacrifice fly to make it 6-5. Lawrence Butler walked, putting runners at the corners with one out, but the rally died when Darell Hernaiz popped out and catcher Austin Hedges picked Butler off first. That play felt like a trapdoor opening under the inning.

From there, the game got away fast. In the seventh, Cleveland loaded the bases against Scott Barlow and Hogan Harris, then Fry walked to force in a run. Travis Bazzana followed with a two-run single to center, stretching the lead to 9-5. In the eighth, Kyle Manzardo came off the bench and hammered a three-run homer to right-center after two walks and a wild pitch, turning a close game into a 12-5 runaway.

The Athletics did scratch across one more run in the eighth when Cortes, McNeil, and Butler reached, and Kurtz punched a ground-ball single to right to score Cortes. Kurtz finished with two hits, but his Athletics-record walk streak ended at 20 games. That was a small historical footnote in a game that had much bigger problems.

Cleveland added two more in the ninth on a Rocchio RBI single and Kwan’s run-scoring double play grounder. Hedges finished with a homer, two doubles, and several fingerprints all over the game, while Ramírez, Bazzana, and Manzardo supplied the damage that buried the A’s. Langeliers gave Sacramento the thunder early, but the Guardians brought the storm late.

Starting pitchers to conclude the three game series on Sunday: For Cleveland LHP Parker Messick (3-0 ERA 1.73) for West Sacramento RHP Aaron Civale (2-1 ERA 3.23) first pitch 1:05pm PDT.

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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