Associated Press and Paul Kiska
2 hours ago
*The video above shows key dates for the 2024 Guardians season*
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Three homers in the span of four pitches, or in other words, the Guards hit back-to-back homers Friday night on the West Coast.
After being last in the majors in home runs last season, the Cleveland Guardians continue to show their renewed strength.
José Ramírez started a streak of three consecutive homers in the fourth inning of Friday night’s game against the Los Angeles Angels, as the Guardians became the first team in the majors this season to hit back-to-back home runs.
The home run attack came with two outs and extended the Guardians’ lead to 9-2.
“It’s a unique emotion. It’s a lot of fun for the team and I’m happy we can share this,” Ramírez said through a translator after Cleveland won 10-4 to extend its winning streak to seven.
All three homers came in four pitches. The first two came from Los Angeles starter Patrick Sandoval and the other came from José Suarez.
With four homers on the night, Cleveland has 58 this season, tied for ninth in the MLB. They had 124 all of last season.
“Val (hitting coach Chris Valaika) and the hitting group challenged our guys back in the winter to be more impactful on the ball, hit your shots and know what pitches you can make.” , said manager Stephen Vogt. “It’s okay to make a mistake and miss early in the count. Our guys responded and are proud of it. And luckily, we hit a few home runs.
After Andrés Giménez came aboard with a base hit, Ramírez followed with a two-run shot to center for his second home run of the game. It was the 24th multihomer game of Ramírez’s career and the first since last July.
The homer was Ramírez’s 14th of the season, tied for fifth among the majors. With four RBIs in the first four innings, he passed Atlanta’s Marcell Ozuna for the MLB lead with 49.
“You have to have a good plan, be able to execute it and get results. This is what’s working for me right now,” Ramírez said.
On the next pitch, Josh Naylor chased Sandoval with a drive into the stands to right center for his 13th of the season, which is tied for seventh.
Suarez replaced Sandoval. But after two pitches, David Fry sent a fastball into the Guardians bullpen in left field.
This is the first time Cleveland has hit three consecutive home runs since June 18, 2019 at Texas.
“It’s really cool. Everyone in the dugout was excited,” Fry said. “Let’s have another good fight and luckily I slipped it into the bullpen.”
Coincidentally, the Angels were also the last team to allow a team to go deep three times in a row. The Texas Rangers hit three straight solo shots against the Halos on September 25, 2023.
News Source : fox8.com
Gn sports
