Triston McKenzie struck out seven over 6 1/3 scoreless innings and Franmil Reyes drove in two runs as the visiting Cleveland Guardians completed a three-game sweep of the Oakland Athletics with a 7-3 win on Sunday.
McKenzie (1-2) allowed four hits and walked one for Cleveland, which has won three straight following a seven-game losing streak. McKenzie threw a season-high 96 pitches.
Oakland starter James Kaprielian (0-1) struggled in his season debut, yielding four runs on three hits over two-plus innings. He walked four and struck out two.
The Athletics trailed 7-0 before scoring three runs in the ninth against Anthony Gose. Oakland has lost six of its past eight games.
Cleveland concluded a 3-7 road trip by jumping to a 6-0 lead after four innings. Luke Maile began the scoring with a one-out RBI double off Kaprielian in the second.
Kaprielian, just off the injured list after recovering from a shoulder injury, loaded the bases in the third by walking the first three batters on 13 pitches.
Jake Lemoine replaced Kaprielian and allowed a two-run single to Reyes and Andres Gimenez’s run-scoring double.
Reyes, who snapped a 0-for-26 skid with his single to right field, later capped the rally by scoring from third on a wild pitch.
The Guardians extended their lead when Steven Kwan scored on Owen Miller’s sixth-inning sacrifice fly.
Gimenez had two hits for Cleveland, which recorded its first series sweep of the Athletics in Oakland since April 10-12, 2000.
Bryan Shaw replaced McKenzie with two runners on and one out in the seventh, and he retired Kevin Smith and Elvis Andrus to end the inning.
Oakland was outscored 10-4 in the final two games of the series while going a combined 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position.
Chad Pinder had two hits and a ninth-inning sacrifice fly on Sunday for the Athletics, who also got ninth-inning runs on RBI doubles from Christian Bethancourt and Smith.
–Field Level Media
