Jose Ramirez homered for the second straight game and Kyle Manzardo and Brayan Rocchio drove in two runs apiece as the surging Cleveland Guardians beat the visiting Baltimore Orioles 6-3 on Tuesday night.
The Guardians have won 10 of their last 12 games — immediately after dropping 10 in a row — to move back into the American League wild-card hunt and even their season record through 100 games.
Seven-time All-Star Ramirez hit a solo shot in the first inning while Manzardo singled home Angel Martinez in the third and had a sacrifice fly in the fifth. All three runs were allowed by Brandon Young (0-5).
Joey Cantillo (2-0) earned his first win as a starter this season, giving up one run on two hits over five innings. The left-hander struck out five and walked four to beat Baltimore for the first time in four career appearances.
Emmanuel Clase worked the ninth for his 22nd save in 26 opportunities, giving him a league-leading 155 saves since the start of the 2022 season.
Rocchio and Martinez added RBI singles in the sixth off Gregory Soto. Rocchio had a safety squeeze in the seventh that brought home Nolan Jones as Cleveland improved to 4-1 on its seven-game homestand against the Athletics and Orioles.
The Guardians won the series opener 10-5 on Monday after Baltimore took a 5-3 lead.
Ramon Laureano homered for the second evening in a row for Baltimore, giving him five RBIs in the series, and Jackson Holliday singled in Coby Mayo. Ramon Urias had a pair of hits and scored on Jacob Stallings’ second double-play grounder in two at-bats.
Ramirez’s blast was his 920th career RBI, moving him into third place in Cleveland history behind Hall of Famers Earl Averill (1,084) and Jim Thome (937). He moved past another baseball legend, Nap Lajoie, on the list of the franchise that began play in 1901.
Young worked 4 1/3 innings and allowed three runs on four hits. The right-hander struck out three and walked three to remain winless in seven starts interspersed between three stints with Triple-A Norfolk.
–Field Level Media
