Athletics beat Guardians 7-1, avoid sweep

West Sacramento, Calif. Colby Thomas, Zack Gelof and Tyler Soderstrom hit home runs to support Aaron Civale's solid outing as the Oakland Athletics defeated the Cleveland Guardians 7-1 on Sunday, avoiding a sweep in the three-game series.

The Athletics lost the first two games 8-5 and 14-6 before rallying in the finale. Thomas launched his first home run of the season leading off the second inning against Guardians rookie Parker Messick, giving Oakland a 1-0 lead. Messick retired the next nine batters until Gelof and Soderstrom connected for back-to-back homers to open the fifth, pushing the score to 3-1. It was Gelof's second homer of the year and Soderstrom's fourth; Soderstrom finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI.

Singles by Darell Hernaiz, Jeff McNeil and Brent Rooker followed, with Rooker's hit scoring Hernaiz for a 4-1 advantage. Messick, who had allowed just one homer in his first 36 innings this season, gave up four runs on six hits over five innings while striking out six.

Cleveland's lone run came on Chase DeLauter's solo homer in the fifth, his sixth of the season and first since April 3. DeLauter went the opposite way to left field, extending his hitting...