J-Ram keeping his foot on the gas with division title in sight
Cleveland stands 1 win away from 12th AL Central title in club history
Mandy Bell
@MandyBell02ST. LOUIS -- Jos¨¦ Ram¨ªrez¡¯s mindset is simple: It¡¯s not time to take the foot off the gas pedal just yet.
When a team¡¯s best player has that mentality 24 hours after celebrating a postseason berth, it¡¯s hard for it not to trickle down to the rest of the team. And in the off-chance anyone was ready to take a day off, Ram¨ªrez set the tone early, getting the Guardians on the board first on an RBI single and later adding a homer in a 5-1 victory over the Cardinals at Busch Stadium on Friday night.
¡°It feels good, but we got to keep pushing,¡± Ram¨ªrez said through interpreter Agustin Rivero.
Why? Well, the Guardians know what¡¯s still left to accomplish. With the Royals loss to the Giants on Friday, Cleveland can now clinch the AL Central title with a win on Saturday. After that, the team wants to clinch a first-round bye with one of the top two records of the three AL division winners.
That requires a group effort, which this team has mastered over the last week, whether it was come-from-behind victories, walk-off wins or clinching their spot in the playoffs. Each night created a different hero.
This is when Cleveland is at its best. It¡¯s an advantage for the Guardians when they don¡¯t have to lean so heavily on Ram¨ªrez to carry the offense every single night. This is what led to the scorching start in the early weeks of the season and it¡¯s now the reason the Guardians are running away with the division.
But every good team needs a leader and Ram¨ªrez has been and will always be that guy for the Guardians. When he says it¡¯s not time to take the foot off the accelerator, he¡¯s not only referring to his team, collectively, he¡¯s also talking about his own individual performance.
He wasn¡¯t the one stealing all the headlines over the last few days, but he still carries a quiet 19-game on-base streak. He went 0-for-4 in the playoff-clinching walk-off win on Thursday night, but on Friday, he made sure his team didn¡¯t come out flat-footed.
Cleveland hadn¡¯t gotten a hit until the third inning, when Angel Mart¨ªnez singled to center after a Daniel Schneemann walk. Ram¨ªrez then plopped a single into right field to put the first run on the scoreboard. When he came up again in the fifth, he mashed a solo homer down the right-field line.
¡°When you watch him play it¡¯s, OK, this guy wants to be the best,¡± Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. ¡°Just watching him work, watching him interact with his teammates, watching him push his teammates to get better around him, it just solidifies everything you see [as an opponent]. This is a true pro that plays the game the right way, that works his backside off to be the best he can be.¡±
Suddenly, Ram¨ªrez is flirting with a 40/40 season. That blast was his 36th of the year and after he reached base on a single in the seventh, he picked up his 40th steal. He¡¯s just the 13th Cleveland player to steal at least 40 bases in a season and the first since Rajai Davis (43) in 2016.
¡°It feels good,¡± Ram¨ªrez said of hitting the 40-steal mark, ¡°but it obviously is gonna feel better if I¡¯m able to hit four more homers for the 40/40.¡±
Ram¨ªrez needs four homers in seven games, assuming he plays in each game until the end of the regular season. Is it doable?
¡°Nothing he does will ever surprise me,¡± Vogt said. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be shocked if he gets on a heater and gets it done.¡±
Ram¨ªrez is ready for the next champagne celebration. He¡¯s ready to watch his team accomplish everything that outsiders doubted this club could do. He¡¯s ready to make a run at a 40/40 season. He¡¯s also ready for October baseball. And if Friday night is an indication of what¡¯s to come, it¡¯s clear the foot will not be taken off the gas anytime soon.
¡°We still have a job to do,¡± Vogt said. ¡°We have to continue to push all the way through the end. Maybe there will be a day coming up where [Ram¨ªrez] gets a chance to take a break but I¡¯m gonna have to fight him on it. That¡¯s who he is. He wants to be in there every day.¡±