CLEVELAND -- With a short and sweet swing in the eighth inning, José Ramírez launched the Guardians to victory on Tuesday night and once more etched his name into the storied annals of Cleveland baseball.
Ramírez hit a pair of solo homers in the Guardians’ 4-3 win over the Marlins at Progressive Field. The 32-year-old is now Cleveland’s all-time leader in multihomer games with 27, breaking a tie with Hall of Famer Jim Thome and five-time All-Star Albert Belle.
Ramírez hit a solo homer to right-center field off Miami starter Janson Junk in the first inning. He tagged Calvin Faucher with another solo blast to right in the eighth.
The Guardians improved to 62-56 to remain five games back in the loss column of the American League Central-leading Tigers (69-51). Detroit was in the midst of its game with the White Sox when Cleveland’s game went final.
The Guardians entered Tuesday with the best record in the AL (21-8) since July 7, a stretch that has directly followed Cleveland’s 10-game losing streak.