WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Luis Ortiz struck out 10 in six scoreless innings of two-hit ball and José Ramírez capped a four-run second with his 900th RBI as the Cleveland Guardians beat the Athletics 4-2 on Saturday night.
Bo Naylor and Johnathan Rodríguez had back-to-back RBI doubles off Athletics starter Mitch Spence (2-2). Steven Kwan and Ramírez added run-scoring singles for a 4-0 lead.
Ortiz (4-8) walked two and matched his season high for strikeouts. He allowed 14 hits and 10 earned runs in his two previous starts covering 10 2/3 innings.
Emmanuel Clase pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his 17th save in 20 opportunities.
Austin Wynns had an RBI double off reliever Cade Smith in the seventh for the Athletics. Brent Rooker led off the eighth with a triple against Hunter Gaddis before scoring on a sacrifice fly by Max Muncy.
Spence made 22 relief appearances before making his fourth straight start. He gave up four runs and eight hits over 4 2/3 innings. He permitted just two runs — on solo homers — and pitched five innings in each of his first three starts.
Cleveland (38-37) won for the third time on a nine-game trip that ends Sunday.
The Athletics (32-47) fell to 15-26 at their temporary home, Sutter Health Park.
Key moment
With runners on second and third in the seventh, Smith struck out Denzel Clarke and retired Jacob Wilson on a line drive to first base to keep it 4-1.
Key stat
The Athletics have scored 335 runs to the Guardians’ 283, but A’s pitchers have given up 459 runs — 150 more than Cleveland.
Up next
Guardians RHP Slade Cecconi (2-3, 4.15 ERA) starts Sunday opposite Athletics lefty JP Sears (5-6, 5.45) to close out the series.
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