Athletics swept by Guardians, endure 5th loss in last 6 games

The Oakland A's lost to the Cleveland Guardians again this afternoon, suffering through the weekend sweep amid a dismal offensive stretch. The A's have fallen to 8-14 on the year and despite their backwards momentum, remain 1.5 games up on the Houston Astros for 4th place in the AL West.

The A's lost 6-2 on Sunday and were outscored 22-7 in the series. Including the previous 4-game set the two teams played over the season's first weekend, the A's are 1-6 against the Guardians, getting outscored 51-18.

Outside of their two series against Cleveland, the A's are a much more palatable 7-8 with a -4 run differential. Based on the stats, the Guardians look like one of the best teams in baseball but in reality, a lot of that has come from beating up on the Athletics. Similarly, maybe the A's aren't as bad as they were last year, they just need to get away from the Stephen Vogt revenge tour.

As of right now, the bad mostly outweighs the good. Esteury Ruiz was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas for this series but manager Mark Kotsay is refusing to play him. Starter Ross Stripling got shelled again, giving up 3 runs on 5 hits in 5 innings of work. He's now running a 5.34 ERA and has extended his record to 0-5 on the year.

Brent Rooker has been solid outside of the time spent on the IL. He homered again today and is now up to 4 on the year, boasting a .782 OPS despite a .205 batting average.

The bullpen has been a strength but didn't look like it today. Mitch Spence and TJ McFarland combined to give up 3 runs in 1.2 innings of work, allowing the Guardians to extend their lead to 6-2, which the A's were unable to overcome.

Overall, it was a rough weekend for the A's. Not only were they swept by the Stephen Vogt-led Guardians, but they now face the daunting task of heading to New York to take on the Yankees for a 4-game stretch, followed by a 3-game set against the Orioles. Those two teams sit atop the AL East, separated by half a game, and are both heavy favorites to make deep postseason runs this year.

Tomorrow's matchup will see JP Sears take on Yankees' starter Carlos Rodon. First pitch is scheduled for 10:05 AM PDT. We'll see if the A's are able to reduce the speed at which the ship is sinking by getting back in the win column tomorrow afternoon.