José Ramírez had three hits, including his 36th home run, drove in two runs, and stole his 40th base as the Cleveland Guardians defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 5-1 on Friday night, getting closer to the AL Central title.
“When you watch him play, it’s OK, this guy wants to play, he wants to be the best,” said Guardians manager Stephen Vogt about Ramírez. “Nothing he does will ever surprise me. He’s capable of great things.”
Ramírez has more goals for this season. “It feels good, but obviously it’s going to feel a lot better if I’m able to hit four more homers for the 40/40,” he said through an interpreter.
Ben Lively (13-9) pitched five innings, giving up just one earned run and three hits while striking out two and walking one. This was his third straight start allowing fewer than two runs.
“A couple times in the past, I’ve kind of chilled out a little bit, thinking I’ve got it figured out a little bit, and bad things happened,” Lively said. “You know what you’re doing, (so) keep going. I’ve got plenty of time in the offseason to think about it.”
Erik Sabrowski allowed two hits in 2 1/3 innings for the first save of his professional career.
Andrés Giménez and Lane Thomas also hit solo home runs for the Guardians. Thomas, who started his career in St. Louis, hit his first homer at Busch Stadium since September 10, 2020.
The Guardians’ magic number for the division is now one. The loss for the Cardinals, along with the Arizona Diamondbacks’ win over the Milwaukee Brewers, officially eliminated St. Louis from postseason contention for the second year in a row.
Cardinals starter Kyle Gibson (8-8) gave up four runs (three earned) in six innings. He struck out two batters and walked three, allowing multiple home runs for just the fifth time in 29 starts.
