Guardians use the long ball to edge A's in shootout

The Cleveland Guardians rallied twice Friday night in Oakland, needing an Andres Gimenez grand slam and a two-run homer by Josh Naylor to edge the A's in a 9-8 shootout and snap a seven-game losing streak.

Cleveland starting pitcher Aaron Civale continued his disastrous start to the season. After being a spotted a 1-0 lead in the first inning thanks to a solo home run by Jose Ramirez, he promptly squandered it, serving up a three-run homer to Sean Murphy. The A's held a 4-1 advantage after Civale surrendered four hits and a walk in the first inning.

Shockingly, the Guardians clawed their way back into the game and even pulled ahead, 5-4, in the third inning on an Andres Gimenez grand slam.

But Civale wasn't comfortable with that lead, either. After holding serve for two innings, he fell apart again in the fourth, allowing a pair of runs to score to give the A's a 6-5 advantage on the scoreboard. Civale allowed seven hits, one walk, and six earned runs over four innings.

Oakland tacked on two more runs in the sixth inning against Guardians reliever Enyel De Los Santos to make it 8-5 in their favor. Sheldon Neuse ended De Los Santos' scoreless start to the season, plating both insurance runs on a two-out RBI triple.

Eight runs would not be enough to defeat the Guardians on Friday night, as Myles Straw and Owen Miller opened the seventh inning with back-to-back doubles to spark a final rally. Both came around to score on an RBI double from Jose Ramirez to cut the A's lead to 8-7. Then Josh Naylor put Cleveland ahead for good with a two-run homer.

After Trevor Stephan recorded a pair of 1-2-3 innings to preserve the lead, Emmanuel Clase nearly coughed it up in the ninth. He allowed a leadoff double to pinch-hitter Kevin Smith, but retired the next three batters to leave him stranded at third base.

Even as the Guardians' offense finally awoke, Franmil Reyes looks sound asleep at the plate, now mired in an 0-for-25 slump that includes 17 strikeouts.