ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Last in the majors in home runs last season, the Cleveland Guardians are showing their power resurgence.
José Ramírez started a run of three straight homers in the fourth inning of Friday night’s 10-4 win against the Los Angeles Angels as the Guardians became the first team in the majors this season to go back-to-back-to-back.
On the next pitch, Josh Naylor chased Patrick Sandoval with a drive into the bleachers in right-center for his 13th of the season, which is tied for seventh.
Jose Suarez came in for Sandoval. But two pitches in, David Fry drove a fastball into the Guardians’ bullpen in left field. The three homers came in the span of four pitches.
The homer onslaught came with two outs and extended the Guardians’ lead to 9-2.
“It’s a unique emotion. It’s very fun for the team and I’m glad we got to share in that,” Ramírez said through an interpreter after Cleveland won 10-4 to extend its winning streak to seven.
With four homers on the night, Cleveland has 58 on the season, tied for ninth in MLB. They had 124 all of last season.
“Val (hitting coach Chris Valaika) and the hitting group challenged our guys starting over the winter on impacting the ball more, taking your shots and knowing what pitches you can drive,” manager Stephen Vogt said. “It’s OK to swing and miss early in the count. Our guys have responded and taken pride in that. And fortunately we’re hitting some homers.”
After Andrés Giménez got aboard with a base hit, Ramírez followed with a two-run shot to center for his second homer of the game. It was the 24th multihomer game of Ramírez’s career and first since last July.
The homer was Ramírez’s 14th of the season, tied for fifth in the majors. With four RBIs in the first four innings, he moved past Atlanta’s Marcell Ozuna for the MLB lead with 49.
“It’s a combination of having a good plan, being able to execute and getting the results. That’s what’s working for me right now,” Ramírez said.
It’s the first time Cleveland has had three straight homers since June 18, 2019, at Texas.
“It’s pretty cool. Everyone in the dugout was fired up,” Fry said. “Let’s have another good at-bat and luckily I snuck it inside the bullpen.”
Coincidentally, the Angels were also the last team to allow a team to go deep three straight times. The Texas Rangers had three straight solo shots against the Halos on Sept. 25, 2023.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
