CLEVELAND -- Angels manager Ron Washington could only stave off José Ramírez for so long. And when the Guardians third baseman finally got a chance to hit, he made L.A. pay.
Ramírez went 2-for-3 with a solo homer and two walks on Saturday (both intentional free passes) in the Guardians’ 7-5 comeback win over the Angels at Progressive Field -- their largest comeback victory of the season. Cleveland scored three times with two outs in the seventh inning.
“Our guys just kept crawling back,” manager Stephen Vogt said. “That was a really nice win.”
Here’s a look at three key moments from the win.
1. Ramírez picks up where he left off
Ramírez’s 21-game hitting streak came to an end in Friday’s series opener against the Angels, but perhaps Saturday could be the launching point to another.
The 32-year-old now has 10 straight seasons with double-digit home runs, matching Earl Averill (1929-1938) for the longest streak in franchise history. But he had to work to get there on Saturday.
Washington instructed Angels starter Kyle Hendricks to intentionally walk Ramírez in each of his first two plate appearances in the first and third inning. It proved to be a sound strategy, as Steven Kwan was on second base on both occasions, and Cleveland didn’t score in either frame.
“It’s not new to me,” Ramírez said through team interpreter Agustin Rivero. “It happens every year. It’s part of the game. Obviously, they don’t want me to do any damage to them. They saw the situation. It makes sense that they did it.”
When Washington had Hendricks pitch to Ramírez in the fifth, he hit a solo homer a Statcast-projected 357 feet, in a four-pitch at-bat. In the seventh, Ramírez flew out in a seven-pitch sequence.
“I walked Ramírez two times, and the one time I pitched to him, he went deep,” Washington said. “He’s a special player.”
Ramírez’s on-base streak is at 27 games; only the Blue Jays’ Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (31) has a longer active streak.
“He just continues to be fun to watch and be amazing at what he does,” Vogt said. “A hitting streak, we always joke, ‘Hey, start a new one tomorrow.’ He didn't skip a beat. He was locked in the whole day. He got three pitches to hit and hit all three of them very hard. It's unbelievable.”
2. “May ‘Los” returns
Carlos Santana is notoriously a slow starter; he has a career .741 OPS in March/April (his lowest of any month), including .595 in 29 games this year. When the calendar flips to May, he turns it on, and this year has been no different.
Santana went deep on May 2 against the Blue Jays, in his first at-bat this month. On Saturday, he hit a game-tying solo homer in the seventh inning. The 39-year-old slashed .316/.450/.544 with five homers, 22 RBIs, 19 walks and 16 strikeouts over 24 games.
The 22 RBIs are tied for his most in a single month in his 16-year career (also May 2018 and August ‘19).
“Carlos historically has tough Aprils,” Vogt said. “He talks about it, and right away, his first at-bat of May … hit a homer. And it was just, ‘All right, May ‘Los is here,’ and he goes on to have a huge month.”
Ramírez was asked about what Santana has added to the lineup.
“I mean, other than he's a very old man?” Ramírez joked. “He's my brother. I love the fact that he's able to work hard, and we know that he's the hardest worker out there. So we see that every time he works and he's playing every day.”
3. Arias delivers
Arias had a better March/April (.775 OPS) than May (.569) at the plate. He delivered one of the at-bats of the game on Saturday. With two outs in the seventh, the shortstop worked a seven-pitch sequence against reliever Ryan Zeferjahn before hitting a go-ahead two-run double.
Zeferjahn threw six straight cutters, the last of which Arias fouled off in a 3-2 count. Zeferjahn came back with a four-seamer, which Arias lined to right-center field for the go-ahead hit.
“It was a good fight,” Arias said through Rivero. “I knew he was really good with his breaking pitches, but I had to be sitting on the fastball. And sitting on the fastball allowed me to recognize a breaking pitch. He had thrown so many at that point that I knew he had to throw one, and I was able to execute that one.”