The Cleveland Guardians are back in business.
Led by Jose Ramirez’s clutch hitting, Stephen Vogt’s team is right back in the mix after enduring a tough break last season.
Luis L. Ortiz gave up three runs in a 28-pitch first inning, but he bounced back and stayed in control from there on, and he left the game with four hits and five walks after five innings.
Then, led by Jose Ramirez’s clutch hitting, Stephen Vogt’s team is right back in the mix after enduring a tough break last season.
The Dominican third baseman tied the score in the eighth inning, opening up the door for the Guardians to rally from a 0-3 deficit to beat the Detroit Tigers 7-5 in extra innings.
The Guardians scored four in the 10th with run-scoring doubles from Martinez and Kyle Manzardo.
When asked about his late-game heroics, manager Stephen Vogt had nothing but great things to say about his superstar:
“There are very few people in the game that score on that ball,” manager Stephen Vogt said of Ramírez. “The jump he gets, the slide, you name it. He’s one of the best baserunners in baseball — if not the best baserunner in baseball.”
Now, Martinez’s hitting streak is sitting at an MLB-best 17 games, and he’s reached base safely in 21 consecutive games.
The Guardians knew they couldn’t afford to drop the ball in this series, and they approached it with a different mindset.
They had fallen in the AL Central and trailed the Tigers by as many as six games.
They’ve now cut that lead in half to just three games, and are back in the No. 2 spot.
They’ve won all three games so far, and they will look to complete the sweep on Sunday when Logan Allen squares off against Tarik Skubal.
The Guardians followed a three-game sweep by the Cincinnati Reds by going 4-1 against the Minnesota Twins and Tigers, and they’re currently riding a four-game winning streak.
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