Jose Ramirez hit a two-run double and Owen Miller added a two-run home run in the Guardians’ five-run fifth inning as Cleveland defeated the visiting Kansas City Royals 5-3 on Tuesday night.
Ramirez has 19 RBIs against the Royals this season, and nine of them have been go-ahead RBIs.
The Guardians (91-70) and Royals (65-96) will conclude a season-high, six-game series, and the 2022 regular season, with a matinee on Wednesday.
Cal Quantrill (15-5) earned the win, allowing one run on four hits in five innings. He struck out four and didn’t walk anyone. The Guardians are 16-1 in Quantrill’s last 17 starts. He has never lost to the Royals, going 6-0 with a 2.93 ERA.
Quantrill is 14-0 in his career at Progressive Field, matching Vic Raschi’s major league record for success in one ballpark. Raschi posted a 14-0 record for the New York Yankees at Chicago’s Comiskey Park from 1947-55.
Emmanuel Clase allowed an unearned run in the ninth but picked up his 42nd save in 46 chances.
Daniel Lynch (4-13) took the loss. He allowed five runs — all in the fifth — on eight hits in 4 2/3 innings. Lynch fanned two and walked two.
Lynch walked two batters in the second inning — both after getting ahead 0-2 — but was able to escape.
The Royals got a soft run off Quantrill in the fifth. Nate Eaton stroked a two-out single to center. He was off on a 2-2 pitch and Nicky Lopez hit a bloop just behind third base, just beyond the reach of third baseman Gabriel Arias. Eaton never slowed down and beat the throw home for a 1-0 lead.
The Guardians returned fire quickly in the bottom of the frame.
Myles Straw led off with a single and Amed Rosario hit a one-out single. After a double steal, both runners scored on Ramirez’s double off the top of the wall in left-center field. Ramirez advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored when Andres Gimenez rolled a two-out single between first and second. Miller then hit a 399-foot home run, ending Lynch’s night.
Eaton scored the Royals’ second run in the eighth. He led off the inning with a single, went to second on a groundout and advanced the next two bases on wild pitches by James Karinchak.
Michael Massey’s groundout in the ninth cut the deficit to 5-3 and put the tying run on base, but Clase struck out Drew Waters and Kyle Isbel to end the game.
–Field Level Media
