CLEVELAND — José Ramírez doubled twice, then homered to begin a three-run rally in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Cleveland Guardians sent Oakland to its 10th straight loss, beating the Athletics 3-2 Friday night.
The A’s are struck in their first double-digit skid since 2011 and have outscored 60-20 during the streak. Oakland has the worst record in the American League at 20-40 and has not won since May 29 against Texas.
Oakland starter Paul Blackburn pitched eight shutout innings in the longest outing of his career, allowing four hits and striking out three.
Ramírez, who leads the majors with 56 RBIs, was the only baserunner to get past second until the ninth for the young Guardians, who have won nine of 11 and moved two games above .500.
Ramírez hit his 16th homer to lead off the ninth against Dany Jiménez (2-4) to make it 2-1.
Cleveland then loaded the bases with no outs and Owen Miller hit a tying sacrifice fly. Sam Moll relieved and gave up an infield single to Steven Kwan that loaded the bases.
Luke Maile followed with a sacrice fly, setting off a celebration in the rain that unexpectedly arrived during the inning.
Converted outfielder Anthony Gose (2-0) struck out two of the three batters he faced in the ninth. Cleveland starter Triston McKenzie worked six innings, allowing two runs on homers by Seth Brown and Sean Murphy.
Oscar Gonzalez went 1 for 4, giving him hits in 13 of his first 14 career games. Roger Maris held the previous Cleveland franchise mark with 12.
Brown homered in the first and Murphy went deep in the second. Oakland has 37 home runs — the second fewest in baseball — and only managed five hits to drop its league-low batting average to .209.
Downward spiral
Athletics RHP Lou Trivino, who posted a team-high 22 saves in 2021, is tied for the most losses by a reliever in the American League with five. The deposed closer has a 9.20 ERA in 21 appearances this season, allowing 15 earned runs in 14 2/3 innings. “Lou is one of the guys in the bullpen that we need to have success,” manager Mark Kotsay said. “And he’s had it here before.”
Trainer’s room
Athletics: 2B Jed Lowrie (wrist, shoulder soreness) was not in the lineup after being involved in an collision on the bases Thursday. Kotsay said Lowrie “is pretty sore and has been in for treatment, but there is no guarantee he’ll be available off the bench.” Lowrie has gone hitless in nine straight at-bats as part of a 5-for-42 slump.
Guardians: RHP Aaron Civale (left gluteal soreness), who was injured May 20 against Detroit, will make a second rehab start for Triple-A Columbus. Civale threw 50 pitches in two innings Thursday, allowing two runs at Indianapolis. “By his account, Aaron was a little rusty, so he’ll pitch again in five days,” manager Terry Francona said.
Up next
Athletics: RHP Frankie Montas (2-6, 3.06 ERA) seeks to stop his career-long losing streak at five. Montas has a 2.87 ERA and is holding opponents to a .214 average over his past nine starts, but has not earned a win.
Guardians: RHP Zach Plesac (2-4, 4.72 ERA) has one win in his last seven starts, striking out eight over six innings in a 3-2 victory at Baltimore on June 5. Plesac has a 1-3 record with a 6.21 ERA during the timeframe.
Reds call up rookie catcher
The Cincinnati Reds promoted catcher Chris Okey from Triple-A Louisville on Friday.
Okey, a second-round pick in the 2016 draft, takes the place of Tyler Stephenson, who was placed on the 10-day injured after breaking his right thumb Thursday when he was hit by a foul ball.
Stephenson, the Reds’ leading hitter with a .305 batting average, is expected to miss four to six weeks. He brings the number of injured list stints for the Reds to 28 this season. The Reds’ catchers are now Okey and Aramis Garcia, who’s hitting .169 in 26 games.
When he plays for the Reds, Okey, 27, will be the eighth player to make his big-league debut for the Reds this season. Okey played three seasons at Clemson and played in Billings, Mont., and for the Dayton Dragons in 2016, his first season in pro baseball. He climbed to Double-A Pensacola in 2018 and reached Triple-A in 2019.
Okey hit .237 in 71 games last season for the Louisville Bats and .265 in 24 games this season.
