Sign of a turnaround? This superstar walks it off

CLEVELAND -- Jose Ramirez has gone through his share of struggles at the plate since last August, recording the lowest batting average in the Major Leagues in that span. But the Indians’ third baseman did his best to show he’s ready to turn the page in dramatic fashion Wednesday night.

With a strong wind blowing in from right field, Ramirez watched Kelvin Herrera jog in from the bullpen to face him with two outs, a runner on second and the game tied in the bottom of the ninth. Five pitches later, Ramirez blasted a four-seam fastball into the right-field seats, lifting the Indians to a 5-3 victory at Progressive Field.

“I just fell behind in the count and wanted to throw my best pitch there -- the fastball,” Herrera said. “I left it up in the middle, paid the price."

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“I was thrilled,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “At that point, because [Francisco Lindor] stole second, it changes a lot. All he has to do is find the hole, but he really put a charge in that, because [Jason Kipnis] hit his ball early in the game probably as good as he could hit it and it was just fighting the traffic the whole way. Josey really jumped on that ball and it was a guy [Herrera] for his career he hadn’t done much against.”

The blast was Ramirez’s first career walk-off home run and fourth career walk-off plate appearance with his last coming on a single against Detroit on Sept. 17, 2016.

“I was in the dugout and as soon as he hit it, I was like, ‘I’m not sure,’” Indians left fielder Carlos González said. “The way it’s playing in the past couple of games, it seems like it’s almost impossible to hit the ball over the fence to right field. But he crushed it. Any other day, or even tonight, when it’s almost impossible, he made it happen.”

While Ramirez has gotten off to a slow start, the All-Star third baseman extended his on-base streak to 17 consecutive games with a single to left in the first inning. It’s the longest active streak in the American League. In that span, he has hit .269 with eight RBIs, two home runs and a .395 on-base percentage. Wednesday marked the 10th time the Indians have walked off against the White Sox since 2013.

“I really understand the nature of the game,” Ramirez said. “It has ups and downs. Fortunately, I have a little bit of a track record, where I know what I’ve done, what I can accomplish, and that’s what I try to remember. And remember, it’s a long season. It just started.”

Offense shows signs of life

After being held scoreless for 16 consecutive frames against the White Sox and having scored just one run in their previous three games, the Indians got back on the scoreboard in the fourth inning, plating three runs on a fielder’s choice and a two-run single by Tyler Naquin. The team recorded 12 hits, one shy of their season high, with Ramirez, Gonzalez, Naquin, Jake Bauers and Leonys Martin all logging multihit nights. And while the offense is still looking to get hot, Ramirez’s recent numbers may be the spark the club needs.

“Baseball, when it comes to hitting, is difficult,” Gonzalez said. “But [Ramirez has] done it before. He’s been a tremendous player for a lot of years. We all have confidence in him. We all believe in ourselves. It’s just one of those stretches that everything seems so difficult when it comes to hitting. But I’m sure that we’ll get going. We’ve just got to continue to work and keep pushing and try to have good at-bats and make solid contact and believe in the guys behind you.”

Bieber snaps scoreless streak vs. White Sox

Indians starter Shane Bieber worked six strong innings before running into trouble in the seventh, allowing two runs on three singles. He was pulled after 6 1/3 frames, giving up three runs on eight hits, including a homer. The third-inning blast from Jose Abreu was the first run he’s allowed to the White Sox in his career, snapping a 14 2/3 scoreless innings streak.

“I thought I did a lot of good stuff tonight,” Bieber said. “I thought, with that being said, there was a lot to improve on just like every outing. Would’ve liked to extend it. Was in a really good position to go deep into that ballgame and keep the lead, but I wasn’t able to do that. Fortunately, the offense picked me up and [Ramirez] picked me up. You know, it was just a really good, overall win tonight.”