While the Guardians defeat the Twins 11–4 to win the series, Jose Ramirez warms up.
CLEVELAND: It looks like Jose Ramirez is getting hot.
The Twins learned that Saturday night at Progressive Field—bad news for the opposition, but wonderful news for the Guardians.
As Cleveland defeated its Central Division foe 11–4, Ramirez scored for the second time in as many games and for the fourth time overall. This helped Cleveland win a three-game series.
“He is a legendary figure. He is a goat. He’s our guy,” declared Guardians left-hander Logan Allen, who benefited from yet another fantastic outing from Ramirez by winning two straight games and raising his record to 5-2 with a 4.91 ERA in ten starts. “We wouldn’t be where we are now without him. Seeing him act like that is fantastic, especially on his bobblehead night. He is as good and makes as much money as he does for a reason.
The victory marked the first-place Guardians’ fourth in four games versus the Twins, the reigning division winners, this season and their 11th in 16 games overall going back to the previous campaign. Cleveland’s record climbed to 29-17 with the win, making it 12 games over.500 for the first time this season. It was the team’s fifth win in six games overall.
With a season-high 16 hits, the Guardians were able to answer the Bailey Ober riddle and complete the game.
The right-hander for Minnesota was on an 18-inning scoreless run going into the game against Cleveland, but Ramirez and the Guardians got to him quickly.
After fouling off seven pitches in a 12-pitch at-bat, Ramirez blasted a 3-2 offering from Ober just over the right field wall for a two-run home run in the first inning.
Ramirez passed Earl Averill for fourth place on Cleveland’s all-time record with his 227th career long ball, making the home run noteworthy in a number of ways.
With an RBI double in the third inning, Ramirez notched his 100th multiple-extra-base hit game, tying Hal Trosky for the third-most in franchise history. Ramirez recorded his sixth three-hit game of the year and his 101st overall in the fifth inning thanks to a single.
In the majors this season, there have been six at-bats lasting ten or more, and Ramirez owns three of those hits. He is one of only six players in MLB history to have recorded six during the league’s start of tracking pitch counts in 1988, along with Hall of Famer Todd Helton (eight), Paul Konerko (seven), and Paul Goldschmidt (six).