CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The Guardians have now won three-straight series over the Red Sox for the first time since 1996. It’s also the first time Cleveland has beaten Boston five-or-more times in a single season since 2014.
Cleveland improved their record to 18-7 with the win. Only the 1999, 1966, and 1955 clubs have won 18-or-more games through Cleveland’s first 25 contests.
“I feel like once the guys arrive in the clubhouse before the game, you feel that good energy,” Jose Ramirez said. “We know that we can compete with anybody, so that’s good energy to have.”
The Guardians scored five runs in the second inning headlined by a grand slam by Jose Ramirez. Red Sox starter Chase Anderson left a cutter down the middle on the 10th pitch of the at-bat. The ball soared 384 feet to the right field seats at 107.8mph.
“Especially somebody like Jose, he’s obviously getting educated with each pitch,” manager Stephen Vogt said. “He kept using the cutter and then he got one in the nitro zone and didn’t miss it. Unbelievable at-bat by him and obviously a big blow for us right there.”
It was Ramirez’s fifth home run of the season and sixth career grand slam, the first this year for the Guardians. Also, it was Ramirez’s 1,353rd career hit, tying him for 12th place in club history with Jim Thome.
“First of all, Austin Hedges called it,” Triston McKenzie said. “You’re always expecting him to do great things, but when it actually happens you’re overjoyed for him and the team.”
Ramirez passed Thome with a single in the seventh inning. He scored after stealing a base, reaching third on a throwing error on the play, and sliding home on a passed ball at the plate.
Prior to the grand slam in the second inning, Will Brennan launched a sweeper 361 feet to right field on a 1-2 pitch. It was Brennan’s third homer of the season and second in the last four games.
“He’s squaring everything up right now,” Vogt said. “It’s just the quality of the at-bats and the pitches he’s swinging at. He’s making really good swing decisions and impacting the ball when it’s in his damage zone. I couldn’t be more thrilled with the way he’s swinging the bat.”
The top of Boston’s lineup got to Triston McKenzie in the third inning. Rafael Devers led off the inning with a single. He scored on a Rob Refsnyder triple that bounced off the left-field wall. Wilyer Abreu plated Refsnyder with a sac fly.
“Just trying to figure out how to get some guys out,” McKenzie said. “I think Devers got some good hits on some good pitches, and I think Refsnyder put a good swing on the ball that ended up going a lot further than I thought it would. Outside of that, I think we did a good job of managing their lineup.”
McKenzie’s day was over after pitching four innings. He gave up two runs on six hits with seven strikeouts on 75 pitches, 50 of them were strikes.
“He had a couple innings with his pitch count getting up there,” Vogt said. “Just looking at where we were in the game, it was a perfect spot for Tim [Herrin] to come in the game versus their lefties. I had to make a hard decision. I didn’t like it but sometimes it’s what you have to do. You want him to go back out but at that time it just felt like it was time to move on.”
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McKenzie issued two walks and was able to strand four runners on base. Two of his seven strikeouts came in the second inning when he struck out back-to-back batters with the bases loaded. The seven strikeouts are the most for McKenzie in an outing this season.
Hunter Gaddis was credited with the win and extended his scoreless streak to 13 games, the longest streak in the league among relievers this year. Emmanuel Clase earned his eighth save of the season.
“The bullpen was unbelievable today,” Vogt said. “We’ve asked them to do a lot of things with a lot of them coming in at times they’re not used to. Just the way those guys take the ball and go out and get their hitters. I couldn’t ask for them to be any better.”
The Guardians have now won three series in a row and seven of their eight series this season. They’ve also won nine of their last 11 games. Cleveland went 5-1 on the homestand.
The Guardians (18-7) play the Atlanta Braves (17-6) next as they begin a six-game road trip. The last time Cleveland traveled to play Atlanta in a series was 2016 (3-0 CLE sweep). The Guardians own an MLB-best 10-3 record on the road this season.
Logan Allen (3-0, 5.06 ERA) opens the road trip on the mound for Cleveland. Opposing him on Friday will be Chris Sale (2-1, 4.38 ERA) for Atlanta.