Johnathan Rodríguez hit his first home run in the majors, Slade Cecconi went a career-long 8 1/3 innings and the Cleveland Guardians beat the Athletics 8-6 on Friday night.

A mid-July visit to Cleveland has proved to be just what the Athletics needed to take their offense to the next level.

The Cleveland Guardians open a series against the A's tonight. Follow along for live score updates, highlights and more from the game.

BOTTOM LINE: The Cleveland Guardians host the Athletics looking to stop their seven-game home skid. Cleveland is 20-23 at home and 46-49 overall. The Guardians are 30-9 in games when they have more hits than their opponents.

Carlos Santana and Lane Thomas are each veterans who are free agents at the end of the season. Jakob Junis could be a nice long reliever for a playoff contender. Given Cleveland's history of trading pitchers, Emmanuel Clase could be the next star reliever to be moved.

The Guardians have the 11th-best playoff odds among the 15 teams in the messy, crowded AL. Here's how they can beat those odds.