Jose Ramirez Launches Smokin' Hot Guardians Past Angels
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It sure feels like something special is happening in Cleveland.
It's a long season and it's been far from perfect. The inexperienced Guardians have had a couple of cold spells throughout the year, which is plenty understandable.
But with the heat on in September as they chase an AL Central crown, Cleveland is playing arguably it's best baseball of the year and they sure look like a seasoned, well-tested team.
Leadership from guys like Jose Ramirez sure helps, doesn't it?
Ramirez tattooed a 2-run shot deep into the right field seats to break a 3-3 tie in the eighth inning and lift Cleveland to a comeback win.
Wednesday afternoon's 5-3 win was Cleveland's season-best sixth in a row, completing back-to-back sweeps of the Minnesota Twins and Los Angeles Angels.
With 21 games to go, the Guardians:
- have won eight of their last 10 games
- lead the AL Central by 3.5 games at the time of this writing (the White Sox are playing at home against Colorado right now)
- still play 15 of their final 21 games against divisional opponents
- are a season-best 11 games above .500, sporting a record of 76-65
Oscar Gonzalez homered for the second day in a row to start the scoring. After falling behind on a Mickey Moniak 2-run shot to right and a Mike Trout RBI single, Austin Hedges brought home a run on a ground ball to pull within a run at 3-2.
Then after letting a chance slip by in the sixth, Andres Gimenez opened the seventh inning with a single to center field. Tyler Freeman cracked a double into the left field corner and Gimenez dove home safely ahead of the tag on a great relay throw, tying the game at 3-3.
Starting at shortstop today for only the fifth time this year, Freeman flashed a little leather in the eighth when he stole a bloop single from Trout on a terrific over the shoulder catch.
That laid the foundation for Ramirez to hit his go-ahead homer and lift the Guards to victory.
I'm not sure if Wednesday's exciting win should come as much of a surprise though.
There's home field advantage ... and then there's what the Guardians do when the Angels come to town.
Cleveland has absolutely owned the Halos when the teams meet in Cleveland. Since the beginning of the 2015 season, Cleveland is now 21-1 (including when they were the home team during the Little League Classic played in Williamsport, PA last summer). That's the best home record by any Major League team against a single opponent in that span (minimum of eight games played).
The Guardians have won 11 consecutive games here against the Angels, which is now a franchise-record against a single opponent.
Considering how hot the Angles were when they swept Cleveland back in April out on the West Coast, it feels that much better to watch the Guardians play this well against them while they're back home.
For what it's worth, this is also the first time over a season series between the two clubs in which the home team won every game played.
Post-season dreams are feeling more realistic with each passing day. The final three weeks of the regular season are setting up to be awfully cool for a team that nobody outside of the organization thought much of just a few months ago.
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Read More:
Guardians Win Fifth Straight In Comeback Victory
What The Guardians Have To Say About Terry Francona Being Ejected Against The Angels
What Terry Francona Thinks About MLB Rule Change Coming Next Season
Three Guardians To Watch For Against The Angels
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