(Photo credit: Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images)

Two teams that finished April with at least a share of the lead in their respective American League divisions go head-to-head to begin May when the Cleveland Guardians face the Athletics on Friday night in West Sacramento, Calif.

Cleveland left-hander Joey Cantillo (1-1, 2.97 ERA) and Athletics right-hander J.T. Ginn (0-0, 3.24) are the scheduled starters in the opener of the three-game series. The Guardians are seeking to repeat a series win earned in their first-ever trip to West Sacramento last June.

To do so, they'll have to deny the A's a fourth consecutive series win. The Athletics took two of three from the Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals to move atop the AL West at a season-best three games over .500.

Leading the way has been 23-year-old Nick Kurtz, whose two-run, tie-breaking double in the second inning of Thursday's 6-3 win over the Royals temporarily stole the headlines from a start in which he's drawn a major-league-leading 33 walks.

'When he got here, there was an advanced approach for his age,' A's manager Mark Kotsay said about his second-year first baseman after the win. 'The main thing we're seeing is ... being patient, being selective, getting his walks, getting on base.'

The Guardians limited Kurtz, who had just 37 games of major-league experience at the time, to a 2-for-11 series performance with one solo homer and one walk when they visited Sacramento last June.

Kurtz exacted a measure of revenge a month later in a rematch series in Cleveland, going 7-for-12 with four doubles, a triple, a home run and a walk.

He has never faced Cantillo in what will be a lefty-on-lefty matchup. Cantillo has allowed just seven home runs against left-handed hitters over 45 games in his three-year career.

The 26-year-old is coming off his first loss of the season at Toronto, a hard-luck 5-3 defeat last Saturday in which he allowed three runs but just one earned in five innings.

He has never faced the A's in his career.

Also a third-year big-leaguer, Ginn has just one inning of experience against the Guardians. That came last July 18 in Cleveland, when he entered the game in the fifth inning with the A's down 7-1 and allowed one run. The A's lost 8-6 after a late-inning rally fell short.

In his most recent outing, Ginn was pulled in the fourth inning from a game the A's led 2-0 at Texas last Sunday. The A's went on to win 2-1, but he did not get a decision.

He'll see a Guardians team kicking off a seven-game trip after losing two of three at home to the Tampa Bay Rays. The club had Thursday off following a 3-1 victory in the series finale, which had them alone atop the AL Central before the Detroit Tigers won Thursday to draw even.

Fans in West Sacramento will get their first look at Guardians prospect Travis Bazzana, the No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft, three spots ahead of where the A's selected Kurtz.

Bazzana, a 23-year-old Australian, is still looking for his first big-league hit after going 0-for-6 with two walks in two games against the Rays, but he is confident that he's ready for the big time.

'I would've hoped by 2026 I was able to impact this team,' he told reporters during his debut series earlier in the week. 'I'm feeling really strong and in a perfect place to really help the team win.'

- Field Level Media