*Photo from the San Diego Union Tribune*
These guys just keep mashing. Tyler Freeman drove in 3 runs, Jose Ramirez homered and had 3 RBI's, and the Cleveland Guardians defeated the Minnesota Twins with a 11-4 victory Saturday in Cleveland.
On Ramirez's bobblehead night, it was only fitting for him to deliver at the plate as the Guardians secured the series with their second straight win, handing the Twins their 5th loss in a row as well. Ramirez himself fell just a triple shy of the cycle, which would've been the second in team history.
Ramirez started the game with a bang, hitting a two run home run to right field to make it 2-0 Guardians in the first inning. He added an RBI double and Josh Naylor produced a sac fly in the second to make it 4-0. Freeman hit an RBI double in the 4th to make it 5-0. In the 5th, it became 7-0 Guardians on an RBI single from Will Brennan and an RBI double from Kyle Manzardo.
Freeman added two more runs in the 7th, making it 9-0 as two runs scored on a single and error. Andres Gimenez had a two run single of his own to make it 11-0. In the 9th, the Twins ended the shutout bid, getting 4 runs on the board from RBI singles from Byron Buxton and Carlos Santana to go with a two run double by Kyle Farmer.
Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said of Ramirez at the plate that "You’re talking about driving the starter’s pitch count to over 20 pitches three hitters into the game. He’s seeing every single pitch. The guys in the dugout are seeing every single pitch. That at-bat does so much for a team. Then an exclamation point with another Josey homer."
Logan Allen was the starting pitcher for the Guardians, pitching 6 shutout innings with 7 strikeouts to go with it. Nick Sandlin and Sam Hentges each threw a scoreless inning in relief before Pedro Avila allowed 4 runs in the 9th, still locking down the win.
Bailey Ober allowed 5 runs on 8 hits and a walk over 4 innings in his start for the Twins. Kody Funderburk allowed a pair of runs in two innings while Jay Jackson allowed 4 in one inning. Position player Willi Castro came on to pitch the 8th and delivered a scoreless inning.
Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said of the team's current losing streak that "You can go out there and you’re on fire for two, three weeks straight and you feel like you can do no wrong, and the game will turn it around very quickly on you. We’re having trouble stringing together at-bats and finding ways to push runs home. The offense, we’re sputtering a little bit. There is no way around that."
The series wraps up Sunday afternoon. Going for the sweep, the Guardians give the start to Tanner Bibee. Chris Paddack takes the mound for the Twins as they try to end their losing streak and salvage the final game.
Comments
Post a Comment