Guardians score, highlights: Josh Naylor comes through again, Cleveland finishes sweep of A's

The Guardians, owners of the best record in the American League, completed the sweep of the Oakland A's Sunday afternoon at Progressive Field.

The Guardians, at 15-6 entering Sunday, were already one game ahead of the New York Yankees (14-7) for the best win-loss record in the league through the first 21 games. The Atlanta Braves, at 14-5, have the best win percentage in baseball at .737.

Here's how it all unfolded.

Guardians beat the A's to complete the sweep

The Guardians are 16-6 through their first 22 games of the season, and have completed the sweep of the A's with a 6-2 win Sunday afternoon.

Emmanuel Clase came on to close out the ninth inning with an off day scheduled for Monday.

Josh Naylor clears the bases with a three-run double

Josh Naylor is on a heater.

With the bases loaded in the seventh inning and the Guardians holding a one-run lead, Naylor broke it open with a three-run double down the right field line that cleared the bases and extended Cleveland's lead to 6-2.

Naylor is now hitting .325 with a 1.016 OPS. He's also now driven in 20 runs in the 21 games in which he's played.

Tanner Bibee runs into trouble as A's cut into Guardians advantage

Tanner Bibee's day is done in the sixth inning. And he's not happy.

With two outs and two runners on, Lawrence Butler lined a single back up the middle to score a run and cut into the Guardians' lead, 3-2. Instead of escaping the inning, Bibee is being taken out in favor of Tim Herrin, the lefty.

As he walked off the field, Bibee yelled into his glove in frustration.

Shea Langeliers nearly tied this one up by driving a ball deep into the left-center gap, but Ramon Laureano was able to track it down to end the inning.

Will Brennan, Gabriel Arias extend Guardians lead over A's

Will Brennan is having a day.

After the A's cut into the Guardians lead via a Brent Rooker solo home run in the top of the fourth, Will Brennan in the bottom half of the inning hit a double to the left-center gap, giving him two extra-base hits today.

A few batters later, Gabriel Arias knocked him in with an RBI single to right field, giving the Guardians a 3-1 lead.

Arias is having a really nice start to the 2024 season and is now hitting .311 with an .815 OPS.

Arias and Tyler Freeman have so much versatility that the Guardians wanted to create a situation in which they had the flexibility to construct as many different lineup combinations as possible. Tyler Freeman and Brayan Rocchio were given the first cracks at center field and shortstop, respectfully, but if Arias keeps hitting, Vogt will have to find a spot for him in the lineup more often, even if it involves moving him around on a daily basis.

Andres Gimenez continues hot start to 2024 with RBI single

Andres Gimenez in the No. 2 spot in the lineup is working well.

Gimenez is hitting .296 with a .742 OPS and just added an RBI single to left field to put the Guardians up 2-0 in the third inning.

Manager Stephen Vogt has had a pretty consistent first four of Steven Kwan-Andres Gimenez-Jose Ramirez-Josh Naylor to try to create a gauntlet at the top of the lineup. It's been the right call so far this season.

Will Brennan home run puts Guardians on top of A's

Will Brennan has had a bit of trouble getting much going this season, but he on a cold day in which the ball likely won't be flying out of here, he got just enough of one for a solo home run to right field. That'll put the Guardians up 1-0 in the second inning.

Brennan entered hitting just .195 with a .550 OPS. The Guardians are likely to call up Kyle Manzardo (which would take away some at-bats from the DH spot that has been spread around thus far) and Chase DeLauter, both at some point this season. Brennan is hoping to do enough to lessen the need for those call-ups, but he hasn't shown as much consistency yet.

That home run, though, helps his case.

Ryan Noda out after being hit by a batted ball off the bat of Zack Gelof

This has been a weird top of the second inning.

First, Tanner Bibee stuck out Ryan Noda, but the ball got away from catcher Bo Naylor, and Noda made it to first base safely. That was odd enough, as you don't see that often.

But then Zack Gelof hit a ball that had an exit velocity of 105.8 mph off the bat that struck Noda, who had taken his secondary lead off first base. The ball caromed off Noda's shoulder and into right-center field. There simply wasn't enough time for him to get out of the way.

Since the ball hit Noda in the baseline, he was called out, and the play goes as a single for Gelof.

So Noda somehow struck out, but ended up on first base anyway, and then got drilled with a liner and was called out. It's like the baseball universe decided he had cheated being out and corrected the call.

The Guardians and A's are still scoreless.

Here is some pregame information.

How can I watch/stream/listen to Cleveland Guardians vs. Oakland A's

The April 21 Guardians-A's game will be televised on Bally Sports Great Lakes. It'll be broadcast over the radio on WTAM 1100 and WMMS 100.7.

Guardians vs. A's pitching matchup: Tanner Bibee vs. Ross Stripling

Tanner Bibee will take the mound looking for a rebound effort after a less-than-stellar start to his 2024 season, in which he's compiled a 4.82 ERA entering Sunday's game. He'll start opposite Ross Stripling (5.32 ERA) of the A's.

Jose Ramirez not in Guardians lineup Sunday

All-Star third baseman Jose Ramirez has a regularly scheduled day off, president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said. Antonetti also joked that Ramirez, who wants to play every single day, isn't too happy about it, but the team felt it was best to give him an extra day off with a long season ahead of them.

Cleveland Guardians lineup vs. Oakland A's

• Steven Kwan, LF

• Andres Gimenez, 2B

• Josh Naylor, DH

• David Fry, 1B

• Will Brennan, RF

• Ramon Laureano, CF

• Bo Naylor, C

• Gabriel Arias, 3B

• Brayan Rocchio, SS

Oakland A's lineup vs. Cleveland Guardians

• Abraham Toro, 3B

• JJ Bleday, CF

• Seth Brown, LF

• Brent Rooker, DH

• Ryan Noda, 1B

• Zack Gelof, 2B

• Lawrence Butler, RF

• Kyle McCann, C

• Nick Allen, SS

What's new at Progressive Field in 2024?

The Guardians unveiled all of the new food items and renovation project updates at Progressive Field.

Cleveland Guardians next game

The Guardians are off Monday and then continue this hometand with a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox Tuesday at 6:10 p.m.

Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis1@gannett.com. Read more about the Guardians at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/cleveland-guardians. Follow him on Threads at @ByRyanLewis.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Guardians game score vs A's, Josh Naylor stays hot to complete sweep