J-Ram delivers MVP-caliber power in Guardians' 6th straight win

CLEVELAND -- With all the talk about Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani battling for the American League MVP Award swirling around the baseball world, José Ramírez just wanted to make sure everyone remembered that he, too, is having a season to talk about.

With the score tied at 3 in the bottom of the eighth, Ramírez launched the deciding two-run shot deep into the right-field stands to lift the Guardians to a 5-3 victory over the Angels at Progressive Field on Wednesday, securing Cleveland’s second consecutive series sweep and sixth straight win as the team moved to a season-high 11 games over .500. The win also moved the Guardians four games ahead of the second-place White Sox, who come to town for a makeup game on Thursday.

It’s been easy to forget about Ramírez this season with the attention stolen by a ridiculous home run pace in New York and a player continuing to do something we’ve never seen in Los Angeles. Ramírez has had a quieter September, and he hasn’t been as consistent as Cleveland fans have become accustomed to.

But that doesn’t mean he’s not putting together a campaign worthy of MVP votes.

Ramírez yet again delivered when his team needed him most. Entering Wednesday’s series finale, Ramírez had thrived in tie games, with a .314 average and .947 OPS when the score was knotted -- and that’s prior to his go-ahead blast off righty Ryan Tepera. The Guardians have won the last six games in which Ramírez crushed a long ball.

"He does a little bit of everything, and he doesn't strike out much,” Angels interim manager Phil Nevin said. “He's got power to all fields. He moves the ball around, so he's really tough to pitch to."

Ramírez has 27 home runs this season, but he’s outpacing all American League hitters with 41 doubles. His 410 extra-base hits since 2017 are the most in the Majors in that span. And with extra-base hits often come RBIs, and Ramírez has already knocked in the most in a single season in his career. The two-run shot on Wednesday brought his total on the season up to 111, which as the game ended ranked second in the Majors, trailing just Judge’s 123.

“I know there’s been some really special players this year,” Guardians starter Cal Quantrill said, “but he deserves to be in the [AL MVP] discussion.”

Whether or not he’s in that discussion for yet another year, Ramírez has become the MVP of the Guardians’ clubhouse. In a year when the team’s average age is younger than all other 29 clubs (and all Triple-A teams), he’s figured out how to serve as a leader and be a consistently calm and steady force in the middle of the lineup -- all while being his goofy self.

Ramírez spent the series playing basketball with the Nerf hoop the team has set up in the clubhouse, challenging people to table tennis, dragging Amed Rosario across the room in a chair and simply yelling (playfully) at anyone who walks by. His presence both on and off the field is why the Guardians wanted to lock him up to a long-term deal, and he’s continually leaving his mark in the history books.

“He's a fireball,” infielder Tyler Freeman said. “He's someone to look up to. When he's taking ground balls at third, I'm pretty much [on the] top step watching him take ground balls and seeing how he goes about his business. Yeah, just a leader.”

Wednesday’s homer is the 190th of Ramírez's career, which is tied for the 11th most in Cleveland history with Rocky Colavito. His 111 RBIs through the Guardians’ first 141 games is the most in that span for a Cleveland hitter since Travis Hafner (117) in 2006.

If the Guardians are going to get into the postseason, Ramírez needs to be a force in this offense like he's been in years past. His performance on Wednesday was a subtle reminder that he can still be that rock this lineup needs. The difference this year is that the almost 30-year-old veteran has a handful of young players who can help support him.

“Really happy with what has happened -- not only with me but with the team,” Ramírez said, through team interpreter Agustin Rivero. “I’m really excited for what we are doing here, and I’m really excited to see what’s next for us.”