Jose Ramirez hits 3 home runs as Guardians pummel Red Sox

Photo by Charles Murray

Cleveland- Jose Ramirez had a milestone of a night on Thursday. Ramirez went yard, back to back to back, recording three home runs. This marks the first time in his career that he’s hit three long balls in one game. Ramirez also moved past Travis Hafner on the list of Cleveland franchise home run leaders. Hafner now sits at #10 on the list with 200 homers and Ramirez moves to #9 with 201 homers. The Guardians slugger led Cleveland to a 10-3 victory over the Red Sox.

After the game Ramirez talked about if he ever envisioned hitting 201 home runs when he started his career. He had this to say:

“I didn’t think about 200 or 201, more or less but I just felt I was capable of doing it.” Ramirez also answered if he was trying to hit another home run in his last at-bat “Yes, in the last at-bat I was just trying to swing it away.”

Former Cleveland pitcher Corey Kluber gave up Jose’s third homer of the night. The Guardians collected seven runs and 11 hits off Kluber. The once Cleveland ace and fan favorite had a rough night as a reliever at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario. Though it was great to see the offense turn it up it was hard to watch it happen to the beloved former Clevelander “Klubot.”

Taking the mound for the Guardians was Aaron Civale in his second start returning from injury. Civale earned the win giving him a 2-1 record on the season. He went 5.2 innings allowing four hits, two runs (1 earned) walked two batters and struck out three. Civale is 24-1 when the team gives him three or more runs of support. Thus improving Cleveland’s record to 32-4 in such contests when he pitches. As the season continues he’s an integral part of the pitching rotation.

Aside from Jose who else was hot tonight

JOSH NAYLOR (2-for-3, R, BB) extending his hit streak to a career-high eight games. Over that span, Naylor is hitting .552 (16-for-29) with 11 RBI, nine runs scored and five multi-hit games. His .552 average and 1.468 OPS lead all of MLB since May 30. Naylor is definitely getting attention for All-Star voting as he stays red hot.

WILL BRENNAN (2-for-4, R, HR, 2RBI) and ANDRÉS GIMÉNEZ (2-for-4, R, 2B, 2RBI) each contributed multi-hit, 2-RBI outings. Since May 30, Brennan is hitting .448 (13-for-31) with two HR and 7 RBI, and Giménez is hitting .371 (13-for-35) with four doubles and seven RBI.

The Guardians took two of three from the Red Sox and will host the Houston Astros on Friday. First pitch is set for 7:10.