Gabriel Arias drove in two runs, Jose Ramirez scored three times and had three hits, and Tanner Bibee won his fifth straight as the Cleveland Guardians rallied to beat the visiting Miami Marlins 9-4 on Thursday night.
Arias’ go-ahead sacrifice fly in the fifth brought home Ramirez with the go-ahead run, three innings after he brought him home with a groundout after Miami took a 3-0 lead. Ramirez also scored in the seventh and moved past Kenny Lofton into third place in Cleveland history with 977 runs.
The Guardians moved within one-half game of the New York Yankees for the third and final American League wild-card spot, remaining red-hot since snapping a 10-game losing streak on July 7. They are 23-9 since.
Bibee (9-9) worked 5 2/3 innings, giving up four runs (two earned) on five hits. The right-hander struck out five and tied his season high with four walks in staying perfect since July 12. He is 5-0 with a 5.13 ERA in those six starts.
Miami loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth against Nic Enright, forcing Cleveland to rush closer Cade Smith onto the mound. Smith picked up his sixth save in eight opportunities by inducing a line out by Liam Hicks.
Marlins starter Edward Cabrera (6-6) allowed five runs on seven hits in 5 1/3 innings, striking out six with three walks. The right-hander had been 3-1 with a 1.40 ERA in his previous four starts.
Heriberto Hernandez and Augustin Ramirez drove in runs for the Marlins, who dropped two of three in the interleague series. Their other two runs scored on a dropped throw by Guardians catcher Austin Hedges.
In the first inning, Kyle Stowers scored and Ramirez came around from second base when Hedges failed to keep control of a toss by Arias. Umpire Clint Vondrak originally called him safe, then saw the ball squirt loose and changed his call.
Cleveland took a 9-8 lead in the all-time series, not including the 2007 World Series won by the Florida Marlins over the Cleveland Indians in seven games.
–Field Level Media
