Central Plains FFA Chapter

09/18 22:03 CDT Jos Ramrez homers, reaches 1,000 RBIs as Guardians down A's 5-3, move into first alone in Central Jos Ramrez homers, reaches 1,000 RBIs as Guardians down A's 5-3, move into first alone in Central By TOM WITHERS Associated Press CLEVELAND (AP) --- Jos Ramrez and rookie Travis Bazzana homered and Joey Cantillo pitched six scoreless innings as the Cleveland Guardians rallied to beat the Athletics 5-3 on Friday night and moved one game ahead of Chicago in the AL Central. Ramrez connected in the sixth inning to give the Guardians a two-run cushion. His 12th homer was also the seven-time All-Star's 1,000th RBI, making him just the second Cleveland player to reach the plateau. Earl Averill drove in 1,084 runs. Bazzana snapped a 3-3 tie in the fifth as the Guardians came back after falling behind 3-0 in the first. Cleveland, 18-9 since Aug. 20, came in tied with Chicago for first in the division. The White Sox, who blew a six-run lead and were beaten 11-8 by the Detroit Tigers, hold the head-to-head tiebreaker. Cantillo (10-9) allowed two hits in six innings after replacing opener Daniel Espino. Cantillo has not given up a run in 10 innings over his past two outings. Hunter Gaddis and Cade Smith finished off the combined three-hitter. Smith worked the ninth for his 38th save. Zack Gelof hit a three-run homer for the A's, who are 0-4 on their final road trip of 2026. Bazzana put Cleveland ahead 4-3 in the fifth with his 15th homer, a 411-foot leadoff drive to center off Scott Blewett (2-1). The Guardians had squandered early scoring chances, loading the bases in the first two innings but failing to push a run across. Cleveland finally strung some hits together in the fourth, scoring three times off starter Mason Barnett to tie it. Rocchio, who leads all MLB No. 9 hitters in RBI with 50, delivered a two-run double and scored on Ramrez's two-out single. Espino opened for Cleveland and started poorly. The right-hander walked three in the first and allowed the three-run homer to Gelof, his 19th.

Up Next LHP Jacob Lopez (6-4, 5.02 ERA) starts Saturday for Oakland against Tanner Bibee (6-15, 4.16), who has gotten minimal support (3.05 runs per game) this season. ___ AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb