NEW YORK – Heliot Ramos beamed as he skipped around third base, thumping the front of his pinstriped jersey with his right hand. He’ll never forget his first home run as a member of the Yankees.
If that swing winds up carrying weight into the postseason, his teammates may remember it just as well.
Ramos pounced on a hanging Ranger Suarez curveball for a three-run homer that opened the floodgates in a 16-1 victory over the Red Sox on Sunday afternoon at Yankee Stadium.
“It was super emotional,” Ramos said. “I’m an emotional guy; I’m always showing what I’ve got in my heart. It really feels good to produce for this team, to be a part of this team and get things done.”
The Yankees took three of four games this weekend to win the season series over Boston, 7-6. That serves as a tiebreaker to determine home-field advantage should the rivals – who faced off in last year’s American League Wild Card Series – meet again in the postseason.
“I didn’t realize the full-season series came down to today, too,” said Will Warren, who fired seven-plus strong innings for the win. “That was huge.”
Having won 10 of their past 14, the Yanks (78-59) lead Boston (74-63) by four games for the top AL Wild Card – effectively five, considering the tiebreaker. The Rays (82-54) defeated the Padres to maintain a 4 1/2-game lead in the American League East.
“It’s about to be September. Let’s go get it,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Let’s go play our best baseball at the right time.
“I do feel like we’re playing well, and we’re going to have reinforcements continue to trickle in this coming month. Hopefully we’re in a position to play October baseball.”
New York scored a season-high 16 runs, with Boston using position player Andruw Monasterio to mop up in a nine-run eighth.
José Caballero celebrated his 30th birthday with a three-run blast, Austin Wells homered twice and Paul Goldschmidt also went deep. Wells became the sixth Yankee to homer twice in an inning, and the first since Gleyber Torres on Sept. 21, 2022. He also became the first player in MLB history to enter as a pinch-hitter and record multiple long balls in one frame.
“That’s what we are capable of,” Caballero said. “We all know this in here. It’s showing up at the right time.”
Considering the pressure he had felt through his first several weeks with the club, no swing meant more than Ramos’.
Imported from the Giants ahead of the Aug. 3 Trade Deadline with hopes of boosting a flagging offense, Ramos had produced little. He entered Sunday in a 7-for-59 (.119) funk, but the Yankees continued to believe in his track record, especially against left-handed pitching.
With Suarez on the mound, Boone had Ramos back in the lineup, batting third. It proved to be the right call, resulting in a Statcast-projected 416-foot drive into the left-field seats.
“Everybody was hyped for me,” Ramos said. “They know I needed this. They know how hard I’ve been working every day in the gym, in the cages, trying to figure it out, trying to get my groove back.”
The five-run fifth was set into motion when center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela’s diving attempt for a Jazz Chisholm Jr. single was ruled a trap, prompting howls from Rafaela when the call stood after review.
After a sacrifice bunt, Goldschmidt punched a soft two-run single through the infield. Two hits later, Ramos was gleefully rounding the bases, saying afterward that he had “blacked out.”
“I thought he was going to do a cartwheel around third,” Boone said. “We definitely sensed it meant something.”
Caballero said the Yankees have been “messing with [Ramos] a lot since he got here” about the power outage. Now they’ll need to find something else.
“Big series, in a big moment,” Caballero said. "We’re really happy for him.”
The Yankees envisioned Ramos in something closer to his current role, as a proven bat against lefties. They pressed him into more regular duty against a stream of righties while Cody Bellinger was on the injured list.
Boone said that this weekend offered a better glimpse of what Ramos can provide, noting that he reached base in eight of 12 plate appearances in the four-game series.
“That’s what he’s capable of,” Boone said. “That’s what he’s here for.”
As for Ramos, he believes that one swing could provide the confidence boost he has been searching for.
“It’s just knowing that I belong here and I can do it on the big stage,” Ramos said. “I know I can help this team. That’s all I want to show.”