Cleveland Guardians' José Ramírez Crushes Home Run, Moves Up Historic AL Leaderboard

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José Ramírez had been suffering through a bit of a dry spell as of late, but that came to an end on Saturday.
Dating back to Aug. 17, Ramírez was 1-for-20 with one RBI. While the Cleveland Guardians third baseman had six walks and three stolen bases in that six-game span, he didn't have much pop at the plate.
The Guardians suffered a 1-5 skid amid Ramírez's struggles, only for both of their fortunes to change at once. Cleveland dominated the Texas Rangers on Saturday, winning 13-5 to even the series at 1-1.
Ramírez went 2-for-4 in the contest, including a 373-foot solo home run in the bottom of the sixth that made it 10-1.
José needed it. 😮💨#ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/i6hMZmKLyV
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) August 25, 2024
Ramírez is now batting .273 with 33 home runs, 102 RBI, 30 stolen bases, an .865 OPS and a 5.0 WAR this season. For his career, Ramírez is up to 249 home runs.
Beyond putting himself one homer away from 250, Ramírez now ranks seventh all-time in career home runs among American League third basemen, according to TSN's StatsCentre. Ramírez entered Saturday tied for seventh with Eric Chavez, and he now trails Evan Longoria by 12.
Graig Nettles owns the record with 333.
Most career home runs among (primary) 3rd basemen in American League history:
— StatsCentre (@StatsCentre) August 25, 2024
333- Graig Nettles
330- Adrian Beltre
292- Gary Gaetti
275- Dean Palmer
268- Brooks Robinson
261- Evan Longoria
249- Jose Ramirez (Via 1 in Saturday's 13-5 @CleGuardians victory vs TEX)
248- Eric Chavez pic.twitter.com/JfnW9TttXi
On the whole in his career, Ramírez is a .278 hitter with 1,460 hits, 232 stolen bases 847 RBI, an .854 OPS and a 50.2 WAR. Ramírez is one of six players to rack up at least 240 home runs and 230 stolen bases in the 2000s, and he is the only one ever to do so with the Guardians.
Last week, became the second MLB third baseman and first player in Guardians history to join the 30-30 club in multiple seasons.
Ramírez has missed an average of just nine games a year since becoming an everyday player in 2016. Cleveland went to the World Series that year and they own the fourth-best record in baseball over the last nine seasons with Ramírez anchoring the lineup.
The six-time All-Star is looking to win his fifth Silver Slugger this season.
Ramírez and the Guardians have one more game against the Rangers, with the series set to end in a matinee showdown Sunday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 1:40 p.m. ET.
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Sam Connon is a staff writer covering baseball for “Fastball on SI.’’ He previously covered UCLA Athletics for On SI’s All Bruins site, and is a UCLA graduate, with his work there as a sports columnist receiving awards from the College Media Association and Society of Professional Journalists. Connon also wrote for On SI’s New England Patriots site, Patriots Country, and he was on the Patriots and Boston Red Sox beats at Prime Time Sports Talk. Sam lives in Boston.
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