CLEVELAND -- The Cleveland faithful chanted ¡°Jos¨¦, Jos¨¦, Jos¨¦, Jos¨¦¡± in the third inning on Monday, welcoming Jos¨¦ Ram¨ªrez as he dug into the batter¡¯s box for his second plate appearance. Two pitches later, the Guardians' third baseman thanked them in kind.
Ram¨ªrez crushed a three-run homer off Yankees starter Clarke Schmidt, jump-starting Cleveland's offense in its 6-4 win over New York at Progressive Field. It was part of a big night at the plate for Ram¨ªrez, who went 2-for-5 with four RBIs and rewrote the Cleveland franchise record book.
With that homer, Ram¨ªrez now ranks second in franchise history in extra-base hits with 668. He entered the night tied with Hall of Fame center fielder Tris Speaker and now trails only Earl Averill (724).
Monday also marked Ram¨ªrez¡¯s 34th game with at least four RBIs, which ranks fourth in franchise history. Averill (41), Hal Trosky (37) and Manny Ramirez (35) are the only players who have more.
¡°Very happy,¡± Ram¨ªrez said through team interpreter Agustin Rivero. ¡°Very happy with that and thank you God for keeping me healthy to be able to achieve that. For now, just hoping to stay healthy and see how long I can go.¡±
With a long way to go this season, it¡¯s not out of the question that Ram¨ªrez could set Cleveland¡¯s new all-time extra-base hit record in 2025. From 2016 (his first full season in the big leagues) through 2024, he averaged 69 extra-base hits per season.
He¡¯s hit nine so far this season (four doubles, five homers), to put himself 56 shy of Averill¡¯s record.
¡°It shows when you're an unbelievably great player who has played a long time,¡± manager Stephen Vogt said. ¡°That¡¯s what these accolades show. It's hard to be great, let alone hard to be great consistently, year after year after year.
¡°And for Hosey, every time you guys tell me, ¡®Oh, he tied this,¡¯ it¡¯s like, ¡®Of course he did.¡¯ You've run out of ways to describe him, and Hosey always steps up for us.¡±
Ram¨ªrez homered on an 87.2 mph sweeper from Schmidt down and inside, sending it a Statcast-projected 390 feet. The Progressive Field crowd was still buzzing when Kyle Manzardo stepped to the plate afterward. He made it back-to-back jacks with a first-pitch solo homer off Schmidt.
Manzardo said he keyed in on the middle of the plate and figured Schmidt would be trying to be in the strike zone after Ram¨ªrez¡¯s homer. Schmidt threw a 93.4 mph sinker middle-in, and Manzardo hit it a projected 366 feet, getting enough of it to just get it over the right-field wall.
Manzardo has gone deep in three straight games, a stretch that included a shot into the Allegheny River on Saturday. It¡¯s the first time he¡¯s pulled off the feat in the Majors, and he¡¯s up to seven homers on the season, which leads the Guardians.
¡°I feel like they usually come in bunches,¡± Manzardo said, ¡°so just trying to capitalize on when I¡¯m seeing the ball well and feeling good.¡±
Ram¨ªrez and Manzardo¡¯s big swings backed Gavin Williams, who delivered his strongest start of the season. In 6 1/3 innings, he allowed two runs on seven hits and two walks with eight strikeouts (a new season high). The Guardians¡¯ bullpen was light on Monday, making Williams¡¯ ability to pitch deep into the game even more crucial.
¡°It was just a beautifully thrown game by Gavin,¡± Vogt said. ¡°Kind of been waiting for that one.¡±
Williams was solid in his last start in Baltimore on Wednesday, when he tossed 6 2/3 innings and allowed five runs. But he grinded early, walking two batters in the second before issuing a grand slam to Jackson Holliday.
He threw 26 pitches in the first inning on Monday but kept the Yankees off the scoreboard despite issuing a pair of walks. Williams generated a career high 21 whiffs, including six with his curveball.
A new wrinkle for Williams on Monday was his cutter, which he threw 164 times last season but had not thrown once through his first four starts this season. He threw it five times vs. the Yankees.
¡°Having four pitches rather than three pitches helps big time,¡± Williams said. ¡°Being able to throw it back door to a lefty and even down and away to a righty helps out. It opens up everything.¡±