CLEVELAND (AP) — José Ramírez has shown he can turn a game around with one swing of the bat.
On Monday night, the Guardians All-Star third baseman did it with his glove and legs.
Ramírez made a nice play to get Milwaukee's Andruw Monasterio out at second base with the bases loaded for the final out. In the home half, he stole two bases after getting aboard with a single and scored on Gabriel Arias' double with the bases loaded to put the Guardians up 3-0.
Ramírez ended up with three stolen bases and moved into third on Cleveland's all-time list as the Guardians opened the series with a 5-0 victory over the Brewers.
“Try to find a way how to do damage any way I can. And today that was the case (with the stolen bases),” Ramírez said through an interpreter. “So it’s always the same focus with all the teams, try to do damage in different ways.”
Ramírez is the fifth player in the majors to have three stolen bases in a game. It is the third time in his 13-year career he has done it, and first since 2021 against Texas.
Ramírez's hit and aggressive base running also helped wake up a Cleveland offense that had scored only one run in its last 21 innings.
“José knows when he needs to do that stuff. We’re having a hard time getting offense going off (Freddy) Peralta. He gets on base, let me make something happen,” manager Stephen Vogt said. “And that’s so much homework that goes into knowing when he can go looking at the jump. He’s a cerebral player. He knows when he needs to get us going, and boy did he, and it’s just fun to watch him.”
Ramírez has 255 steals and moved past Terry Turner, who had 254 from 1904 through 1918. Kenny Lofton is the franchise leader with 452 followed by Omar Vizquel's 279.
Ramírez also has an 11-game on-base streak and is hitting .375 (15 for 40) with one home run and four RBIs during that span. He is sixth in the majors with 12 stolen bases.
In the seventh inning, Ramírez got aboard again with an intentional walk, but had no thoughts about getting his first four-steal game.
“You have to also take into consideration the score of the game, but also staying healthy because stealing basically is always a risk at that time. The game wasn’t calling for that situation,” he said.
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