Lengthy Oakland A’s road trip gets off to dismal start

CLEVELAND — The Oakland A’s might have entered this 10-game road trip feeling somewhat upbeat about the way they had been playing so far this month.

The A’s three-game series against the Cleveland Guardians demonstrated that several improvements still need to be made.

Left-handed reliever T.J. McFarland gave up a three-run double in the seventh inning to Josh Naylor, turning a close game into a rout Sunday as A’s lost 6-2 to the Guardians, who completed a three-game sweep of Oakland and continued their best start in 25 years.

With the A’s trailing 3-2, Naylor, who celebrated a two-run homer on Saturday by bashing the top of his helmet with his bat before rounding the bases, fell behind 0-2 in the count before doubling with the bases loaded off McFarland.

“He’s something else right now,” said Guardians first-year manager Stephen Vogt said of Naylor, who is batting .406 (13 of 32) with 14 RBIs in nine home games.

The A’s were likely all too eager to get to New York and start a four-game series with the Yankees Monday in the Bronx. Sunday’s loss was Oakland’s seventh straight in Cleveland, and the A’s have now gone 3-17 against the Guardians in the past three years.

A’s manager Mark Kotsay bemoaned his team’s missed chances.

“That’s what really good teams do,” Kotsay said. “They capitalize on mistakes. From a hitting standpoint, you make mistakes and they end up taking advantage of it.

“They put the ball in play. They don’t strike out a ton. And that’s where we really battled today with getting ahead of guys and just not being able to finish.”

The A’s managed two runs and five hits in 5 2/3 innings against Cleveland starter Tanner Bibee (2-0). Bibee gave up a two-out RBI single in the sixth before Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt dipped into his bullpen, which came in with a 2.19 ERA.

Tim Herrin, Nick Sandlin, Cade Smith, and closer Emmanuel Clase held the A’s scoreless over the final 3 1/3 innings.

Will Brennan homered for the Guardians, who finished off the A’s while All-Star third baseman Jose Ramirez got a day off.

A’s starter Ross Stripling (0-5) is now 0-10 over the last two seasons with Oakland and San Francisco. He’s the first A’s pitcher to lose his first five starts since Mike Morris dropped six straight in 1979.

Stripling was solid, allowing three runs and five hits in five innings.

“He just couldn’t finish,” Kotsay said. “We played good defense overall. They found holes. He still gave us an opportunity to be in the game, be competitive. Back-to-back days at 3-2 in the seventh and we let it get away from us.”

The A’s were 7-8 this month before they arrived in Cleveland, and after their series with the American League East-leading Yankees, they go to Baltimore for three against the Orioles (14-7).