CLEVELAND, OHIO - JUNE 11: Seth Brown #15 of the Oakland Athletics hits a grand slam during the seventh inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field on June 11, 2022 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)Photo: Getty Images/Jason Miller
CLEVELAND, OH--- The Oakland A's got their first win in 10 games as they defeated the Guardians today by a final score of 10-5. We saw Zach Plesac on the mound, who in his last 10 starts, has only gotten 18 runs in support. He would go 6 innings today giving up 8 hits and 2 runs. That stat line doesn't tell the story of his outing, with Plesac getting multiple 9-pitch innings towards the early ladder of his start, and to top it off making a Derek Jeter-like throw on a ground ball hit back to him. After his 6 innings, it would be up to the bullpen who came into this game sporting a combined 1.04 ERA over the last 19 games.
The A's started the scoring early as they have this whole series, with Christian Bethancourt hitting a single to bring in Tony Kemp to score. They wouldn't score again until the 4th with Matt Davidson batting in Elvis Andrus. In the bottom half of the inning, Jose Ramirez would jump-start the club with a would-be single that he would stretch into a double. Tony Kemp bobbled the throw at second base which allowed Amed Rosario to score and Ramirez to advance to 3rd, from where he would eventually score on a ground ball to first from Josh Naylor, excellent base running from Ramirez. The bottom of the 4th was all Guardians. As the master of the SAC fly, Owen Miller would hit another to bring in Naylor. Then on a bunt single by Richie Palacios, Oscar Gonzalez, who has had a hit in 14 of his first 15 MLB games, was brought home to score. Miller would allow Gonzalez to score for a 2nd time via his 15th double of the season. That would be it for the Guardians as the A's gained the momentum on a Tony Kemp grounder to first, resulting in a fielder's choice that allowed Stephan Vogt to score in the top of the 7th. Later in that inning, Seth Brown cleared Matt Davidson, Tony Kemp, and Christian Bethancourt off the bases with a grand slam. The A's kept adding on with 4 home runs in 3 innings with solo bombs from Stephan Vogt, Christian Bethancourt, and Sean Murphy to top it off in the 9th.
The Guardians have an early morning start Sunday, an 11:35 AM start with Cal Quantrill on the mound at Progressive Field.