Athletics 7, Guardians 1: Aaron Civale, Three Homers Seal a Split in West Sacramento

The lead

May 3, 2026 - West Sacramento, Calif. - The Athletics avoided a sweep with power and a polished start, topping the Cleveland Guardians 7-1 as Colby Thomas, Zack Gelof, and Tyler Soderstrom homered to back Aaron Civale's six-inning evening, per ESPN.

Cleveland briefly answered when Chase DeLauter-whose sixth homer of the season tied the score 1-1 in the fifth per ESPN-extended an eight-game hitting streak while finishing the series 8-for-11.

How the game turned

Thomas led off the second against Guardians rookie Parker Messick (3-1) with his first homer of the season, staking Oakland an early 1-0 edge. After DeLauter tied it in the top of the fifth, Gelof and Soderstrom opened the bottom of the inning with back-to-back homers-Gelof's second of the year and Soderstrom's fourth while Soderstrom finished 3-for-4 on the night.

Singles from Darell Hernaiz, Jeff McNeil, and Brent Rooker tacked on another run before Messick punched out Nick Kurtz to escape further damage at 4-1. McNeil later drove in three with a two-out double off Peyton Pallette in a 36-pitch seventh that slammed the door.

Pitching and matchup notes

Civale (3-1) allowed one run on seven hits and two walks across six innings, repeatedly pitching out of traffic by retiring Daniel Schneemann with runners at the corners to end both the first and third. Justin Sterner, Mark Leiter Jr., and Joel Kuhnel each fired a scoreless inning to preserve the shape of the win.

Messick allowed four runs on six hits across five innings, a departure from a season start that had seen only one homer and 22 hits allowed through his first 36 innings, per ESPN-a sign Cleveland's rookie ran into an Oakland lineup that synchronized power and singles.

Bats that changed the board

Soderstrom's three-hit night anchored the middle of the order, while Gelof and Thomas supplied the long balls that turned small edges into a cushion. McNeil's line-drive double punished a taxed bullpen inning when Cleveland still needed quiet frames.

DeLauter's opposite-field shot gave Cleveland hope until Oakland's back-to-back long balls in the bottom of the fifth reopened the lead, and Kurtz went 1-for-4 to push his on-base streak to 28 games, longest active in the majors per ESPN.

AthX Engine fantasy angle

AthX Engine graded Oakland at 16 team FP on May 3, tied for third on the team slate, while Civale posted 12 pitching FP and Zack Gelof and Tyler Soderstrom each logged eight hitting FP. Games with concentrated bursts in one inning often mirror this fantasy footprint: homers and a clean start anchor the score while middle-inning doubles inflate totals further.

AthX Engine daily scoring is separate from dynamic pricing, but avoid-a-sweep efforts like this still register on the team leaderboard when the long ball and sequencing align.

What comes next

Cleveland moves on to Kansas City with Tanner Bibee facing Michael Wacha, per ESPN. Oakland will hand Luis Severino the ball Tuesday in Philadelphia as the road trip continues.

*Sources: MLB.com schedule, MLB Gameday, ESPN recap, Associated Press via ESPN, and AthX Engine scoring. Information only; not financial advice.*