J.D. Davis homers twice as Oakland A’s lose to Cleveland Guardians

OAKLAND — José Ramirez hit his first home run of the season, Andrés Giménez had three hits and the Cleveland Guardians beat the Oakland A’s 6-4 on Friday night in front of a sparse crowd at the Coliseum.

Ramirez, an All-Star each of the past three seasons, hit a two-run homer as part of a three-run first inning for the Guardians. Giménez (3-for-3, two walks) hit a pair of RBI doubles, while Will Brennan added an RBI single for Cleveland.

“That’s why he’s José Ramirez,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said. “He’s a professional and he caught a fastball up and hooked it out. We made the error in the first that ended up leading to another run.

“But after that, I thought we played a good, clean game for the most part. Our at-bats got better as the game got on.”

A total of 17,359 fans have shown up for the first two games in Oakland this season. A crowd of 3,837 fans was announced for Friday’s game, after 13,522 fans attended opening night Thursday, with thousands more in the parking lot protesting the A’s proposed move to Las Vegas.

Guardians manager Stephen Vogt, who played in Oakland for five-plus seasons during his career as a player, said his team wasn’t affected by the small crowd.

“Obviously, there’s a lot going on here in Oakland,” Vogt said. “I feel for the fans, but we’re focused on us and we’re focused on playing our game, no matter how many people are here.”

Cleveland southpaw Logan Allen earned the win in his 2024 debut, allowing three runs over five-plus innings, after a 2023 rookie campaign where he posted a 3.81 ERA in 24 starts.

Oakland newcomer J.D. Davis hit two solo shots to record his first homers since being signed as a free agent on March 16. It marked the third two-homer game of Davis’ career and first since July 17, 2021.

“They don’t give out home runs up here,” Davis said. “To get two tonight was special, but at the end of the day, we lost, and that’s all that matters.”

“This park plays big to center, and he put a charge into both of those balls,” Kotsay said of Davis. “We know he’s got that type of power. It’s nice to see it and hopeful to keep him right where he is and locked in and for him to have a great year.”

A’s outfielder Esteury Ruiz and catcher Shea Langeliers each added sacrifice flies.

A’s right-hander Ross Stripling was charged with five runs (four earned) over five innings in his first start since being acquired via trade this offseason.