This story was originally published by Dead Spin
Jose Ramirez will look to continue his impressive power surge on Friday night when the Cleveland Guardians host the Baltimore Orioles in the second contest of a four-game series.
Ramirez belted his fourth homer in the past three games on Thursday, helping the Guardians cruise to a 10-3 victory in the series opener. The six-time All-Star has gone deep in four consecutive games on one occasion in his career, doing so from July 25-28, 2019.
“You have to watch every single at-bat that he’s up there,” Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said. “You better be watching, because he’s gonna do something special.”
Bo Naylor and David Fry each launched a three-run homer to send Cleveland to its fourth straight win and seventh in nine games. The Guardians have recorded multiple homers in a season-best four straight games.
“Even when we were having our down part of the season, I think we were still playing good ball,” Fry told Bally Sports Cleveland. “This is who we are. This is how we can play. Hopefully we can keep this rolling.”
Guardians newcomer Lane Thomas had two doubles and a walk to extend his career-high on-base streak to 27 games. The first 25 of those games came with the Washington Nationals before he was traded this week.
The Guardians boast the best overall record (66-42) and best home mark (34-15) in the majors. The Orioles (66-45), with the Thursday loss, fell into a tie with the Yankees atop the American League East. New York was idle.
Baltimore’s Anthony Santander belted a solo homer to extend his on-base streak to 19 games, tying a career high.
Colton Cowser is riding a career-best 14-game hitting streak, while Gunnar Henderson has hit safely in eight consecutive games. Henderson is 16-for-48 (.333) with three homers and 10 RBIs in 13 career games vs. Cleveland.
Orioles right-hander Dean Kremer (4-7, 4.20 ERA) will look to snap a four-start winless stretch when he takes the mound on Friday.
Kremer sustained his third loss in that stretch on Saturday after allowing four runs (one earned) on seven hits in six innings during a 9-4 setback to the visiting San Diego Padres. He struck out seven, walked one and threw a season-high 105 pitches.
“I thought he was absolutely outstanding,” Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde said of Kremer. “I thought his stuff was really good. The (splitter) was outstanding. I thought he was unbelievably competitive.”
Kremer, 28, is 0-2 with a 6.23 ERA in three career starts covering 13 innings against Cleveland.
The Guardians on Friday will turn to right-hander Carlos Carrasco (3-9, 5.68), who has lost his past three starts and yielded six runs in each of his past two.
Carrasco, 37, pitched better in his last encounter vs. Baltimore, allowing two runs on six hits in five innings of a no-decision on June 26. He is 4-2 with a 2.23 ERA in eight career appearances (seven starts) against the Orioles.
Cleveland’s Tanner Bibee will not pitch on Saturday as scheduled after experiencing tightness in his right (pitching) shoulder, Vogt announced Thursday. Rookie left-hander Joey Cantillo will get the nod on Saturday against Baltimore right-hander Zach Eflin.
–Field Level Media
