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The Cleveland Guardians have won their second American League Central title in three years, and slugging third baseman Jose Ramirez is a big reason why.

“When you watch him play it’s, OK, this guy wants to be the best,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “Just watching him work, watching him interact with his teammates, watching him push his teammates to get better around him, it just solidifies everything you see. This is a true pro that plays the game the right way, that works his backside off to be the best he can be.”

Ramirez, who has 37 homers and 112 RBIs this season, and the Guardians will continue their push for top postseason seeding in the AL when they visit the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday afternoon in the finale of a three-game series.

Ramirez had a homer and two RBIs Friday in Cleveland’s 5-1 victory over the Cardinals. He hit a three-run homer Saturday as the Guardians’ comeback bid came up just short in a 6-5 loss. The Guardians clinched their division title earlier in the day when the second-place Kansas City Royals lost.

Cleveland will start right-hander Gavin Williams (3-10, 5.12 ERA) on Sunday. As the Guardians (90-66) prepare for postseason play, Williams wants to finish his regular season on a good note.

After posting a 3.29 ERA in 16 starts as a rookie in 2023, Williams has struggled this season after recovering from an elbow injury he suffered during offseason training.

“It’s been difficult, especially coming off last year,” Williams said. “The injury, too, has messed up a lot of things.”

Williams has lost his past three starts while allowing 10 runs on 14 hits and seven walks in 11 innings. But he was better in his most recent outing, a 4-1 loss to the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday. He allowed two runs on five hits in five innings while striking out seven.

This will be Williams’ first career start against St. Louis (78-77).

Cardinals starter Andre Pallante (7-8, 3.87 ERA) will try to build on his successful transition back to starting.

As a reliever earlier this season, Pallante was 0-1 with a 6.30 ERA in nine appearances. The Cardinals sent the right-hander to Triple-A Memphis to convert back to a starting role — and Pallante embraced the assignment.

“Who knows how that could have gone?” Pallante said. “I had to reframe it. They could have just sent me down as a bullpen guy: ‘We’ll call you back up when we need an arm.’ But they told me they wanted me to get better. And they put me in a position to get better. That was really how I felt, like I knew somewhere I needed to improve. I was able to accomplish it.”

Pallante allowed just four hits in seven scoreless innings in his most recent start, a 4-0 win against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday. He struck out nine and walked one.

He has made two scoreless relief appearances against the Guardians in his career, spanning 1 2/3 innings.

The Cardinals adjusted their pitching staff midway through this series, putting starter Sonny Gray on the injured list with forearm tendinitis to close his season and adding Kyle Leahy to the bullpen.

–Field Level Media