Jose Ramirez goes deep in the count and over the fence in Guardians’ 11-4 win over Twins (2024)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- When Jose Ramirez gets to pitch 10 in an at-bat, somebody should cue the music from Jaws. Or at least offer the pitcher a blindfold and a cigarette because it’s not going to end well.

Ramirez took Bailey Ober, the Twins’ 6-foot-6, 260-pound right-hander, on a 12-pitch dance in the first inning Saturday night. After fouling off seven of those pitches, Ramirez lined pitch No. 12 over the right field wall to lead the Guardians to an 11-4 win over the Twins at Progressive Field.

Six batters have homered in at-bats of 10 or more pitches this season. Ramirez has done it three times.

On April 25 against Boston, Ramirez’s 10-pitch at-bat ended in a grand slam in the second inning off Chase Anderson for a 6-4 win.

On May 5 against the Angels, Ramirez’s 10-pitch at-bat against Griffin Channing ended in a two-run homer in the sixth inning. The Guards won that game, 4-1.

“It seems like everyone is calling his home run every time (that happens),” said center fielder Tyler Freeman. “When he gets it going early on, it just lights a fire for us. You saw that tonight.”

Manager Stephen Vogt said there were other benefits from Ramirez’s 12-pitch at-bat besides his two-run homer.

“You’re talking about driving the starter’s pitch count up over 20 pitches three batters into the game,” said Vogt. “Jose is seeing every single pitch. The guys in the dugout are seeing every single pitch. That does so much for a team and then comes the exclamation mark ... another Josie homer.”

It was a big night for Ramirez and the Guardians. On Jose Ramirez Bobble Head night, the real Jose Ramirez fell a triple shy of the cycle as he went 3 for 5 and drove in three runs in front of a sellout crowd of 35,545. The team wasn’t expecting a sellout, but they sold over 4,000 walk-up tickets on Saturday before the gates opened.

It was the second sellout of the year and the first May sellout since May 21, 2011, against the Reds when Progressive Field could still hold over 40,000 fans.

Ober (4-2, 4.40) entered the game with a streak of 18 consecutive scoreless innings against Cleveland. Guardians hitters were batting .194 (19 for 98) against him.

The Guards got some payback Saturday night.

They reached Ober for five runs on eight hits in four innings. The loss ended Ober’s winning streak of four straight starts.

“We didn’t chase him up. We didn’t chase him down,” said Vogt. “We made him come into the middle of the zone and we didn’t miss.”

The Guardians, 4-0 against the Twins this season, received six scoreless innings from lefty Logan Allen (5-2, 4.91). In his last two starts, Allen hasn’t allowed a run in 12 innings. He struck out seven Saturday to give him 10 strikeouts with just one walk in his last two starts.

“It seems like eight or nine pitches into the at-bat, you might want to go for chase there instead of staying in the zone,” said Allen, when asked about Ramirez. “He’s a legend. He’s a G.O.A.T. He’s the reason we are as good as we are.

“It’s great to see him do that. Especially on his Bobblehead night. It’s great for the fans.”

Allen knows exactly how it feels to get in a long exchange with a hitter and lose.

“It happened to me once last year,” he said. “It’s a backbreaker for sure.”

While Ramirez sent the fans home happy with their souvenir bobbleheads, Freeman helped out with a career night. Freeman, in his sixth start in the leadoff spot for injured Steven Kwan, went 4 for 4 with three runs and three RBI. The hits and RBI were career highs and the three runs tied a career high.

Freeman opened the game with a single and scored on Ramirez’s homer. It was Ramirez’s 11th of the season and moved him into sole possession of fourth place on the franchise list with 227. He had been tied with Hall of Famer Earl Averill.

From there, Freeman singled and scored in the third, doubled home a run in the fourth, walked in the sixth and singled home two runs in the seventh. He is hitting .367 (8 for 22) in the leadoff spot and .221 (29 for 131) overall.

“This game can be frustrating. But I’ve been sticking with my plan and not giving up on it,” said Freeman, who hasn’t been above .200 since April 30. “I think it’s starting to show results.”

The Guardians made it 4-0 in the third when Ramirez doubled home Freeman and Josh Naylor scored Andres Gimenez on a sacrifice fly. They stretched the lead to 5-0 on Freeman’s double in the fourth.

In the fifth, Will Brennan delivered David Fry with a single and Kyle Manzardo doubled home Brennan for 7-0 lead. The RBI was Manzardo’s first in the big leagues.

The Guardians finished the rout with four runs in the seventh. They finished with 16 hits, a season high. Gimenez finished with three hits and Brayan Rocchio two.

The Twins have lost five straight. The Guardians, coming off a 3-4 trip through Chicago and Texas, improved to 10-7 in May. Overall, they’re a season-high 12 games over .500 at 29-17.

Minnesota did all its scoring in the ninth inning against Pedro Avila. Outfielder Willie Castro pitched the eighth for the Twins.

Next: RHP Tanner Bibee (2-1, 4.34) vsa. RHP Chris Paddack (4-2, 4.89) Sunday at 1:40 p.m. Bally Sports Great Lakes, WTAM, WMMS, WARF and the Guardians radio network will carry the game.

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