Guardians Beat Athletics 4-2 Behind Stellar Pitching and Ramírez Milestone

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Cleveland Guardians defeated the Oakland Athletics 4-2 on Saturday night, thanks to a strong pitching performance and a milestone hit for José Ramírez. The game took place at Sutter Health Park, where the Guardians improved their record to 38-37 while the Athletics dropped to 32-47.

Starting pitcher Luis Ortiz struck out 10 batters over six scoreless innings, allowing only two hits. This marks Ortiz’s second strong start in recent outings, rebounding from a previous struggle where he gave up 14 hits and 10 earned runs in just over 10 innings pitched.

José Ramírez made headlines by recording his 900th career RBI during a four-run second inning. Ramírez capped the rally with a run-scoring single after Johnathan Rodríguez contributed back-to-back doubles to start the scoring. This timely hitting gave the Guardians a 4-0 lead early in the game.

The Athletics mounted a late-game effort with an RBI double from Austin Wynns in the seventh inning and a sacrifice fly from Max Muncy in the eighth, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the deficit. Relief pitcher James Karinchak closed the game with a perfect ninth inning for his 17th save of the season.

Despite the loss, the Athletics have been strong offensively, scoring 335 runs this season. However, their pitching staff has struggled, allowing 459 runs, significantly more than the Guardians’ 283 runs allowed.

The Guardians will send Slade Cecconi to the mound for the final game of the series on Sunday, while the Athletics plan to counter with lefty JP Sears.