Aaron Civale pitches Athletics past Guardians to avoid sweep

Colby Thomas, Zack Gelof and Tyler Soderstrom hit home runs and Aaron Civale tossed six innings of one-run ball as the Athletics defeated the visiting Cleveland Guardians 7-1 in West Sacramento, Calif., on Sunday.

Jeff McNeil had a team-high three RBIs as the A's avoided the sweep in the series finale, having lost to Cleveland 8-5 and 14-6 on Friday and Saturday. Tyler Soderstrom went 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI.

Civale (3-1) had traffic on the bases in every inning of his outing, conceding seven hits and two walks in total, but he kept the damage to a minimum. The Guardians' only run came courtesy of a Chase DeLauter solo homer in the fifth.

Conversely, Cleveland's starter Parker Messick (3-1) gave up a season-worst four runs in five innings, striking out six. Opposing hitters had hit only one home run off Messick in 2026, but Thomas' solo shot to lead off the second was the first of three that he allowed on Sunday.

DeLauter, Kyle Manzardo and Travis Bazzana each recorded a pair of hits for the Guardians.

DeLauter's homer not only tied the game at 1-1, it extended his hit streak to eight games. It also ended a long power outage for DeLauter, as he had not hit a long ball since April 3 against the Chicago Cubs.

The deadlock was short-lived, as Gelof and Soderstrom went deep back-to-back to open the bottom of the inning. Darell Hernaiz, Jeff McNeil and Brent Rooker followed with singles, with Rooker's RBI hit scoring Hernaiz to stretch the A's lead to 4-1.

Guardians reliever Peyton Pallette loaded the bases in the sixth and the A's were able to double their advantage on McNeil's three-run double.

Jacob Wilson extended his own eight-game hitting streak with a single in the eighth.

The Athletics' starting catcher and leading home run hitter Shea Langeliers was out of the lineup after his wife gave birth to their first child on Sunday morning. Manager Mark Kotsay said that Langeliers would return on the A's upcoming road trip "at a time determined by Shea and the team".