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CLEVELAND, Ohio — José Ramírez’s return gave the Guardians an immediate spark Wednesday night. Their defense ultimately gave it away.
Back in Cleveland’s lineup for the first time in 38 days after recovering from surgery to remove a fractured hamate bone in his left hand, Ramírez collected two hits, scored a run and drove in two. But three Guardians errors, including Brayan Rocchio’s pivotal throwing mistake that led to a four-run fourth inning, proved too much to overcome in a 10-6 loss to the Twins at Progressive Field.
Ramírez’s return came after he missed 30 games while the Guardians went 15-15 without their franchise cornerstone. He wasted little time reminding everyone what Cleveland had been missing, reaching base three times and creating runs with the aggressive baserunning and hustle that have become his trademark.
“The first inning shows you what we missed,” manager Stephen Vogt said. “He gets a base hit, tags up right in the left fielder’s face, produces a run, gets another swinging bunt hit. Just his presence. We felt like it was a lift for the whole group today. It was an unfortunate game coming off of that, but it’s just so good to have him back.”
Ramírez was simply grateful to be back on the field.
“I’m very happy to be back,” Ramírez said through Guardians interpreter Agustin Rivero. “Thank God to be able to be back. I was a little anxious to be back with my teammates.”
Even Ramírez’s return couldn’t overcome a sloppy defensive night that left starter Slade Cecconi charged with seven runs, only three of them earned, over 4 2/3 innings. Cleveland surrendered six unearned runs, its most in a game since July 10, 2016.
Minnesota struck first when Trevor Larnach crushed a first-inning sinker from Cecconi 404 feet to center field for his eighth home run of the season. It was Larnach’s third career leadoff homer and second this year.
Ramírez answered immediately.
The seven-time All-Star singled on a soft liner to right in his first at-bat, then advanced to second by tagging on Chase DeLauter’s deep fly ball to left. That extra 90 feet proved crucial when Brayan Rocchio lined a two-out single into left, allowing Ramírez to score the tying run. The RBI was Rocchio’s 48th of the season, and he has now hit .339 in his last 16 games against the Twins.
The Guardians moved in front in the second inning. Kyle Manzardo doubled to begin the frame and advanced to third on Daniel Schneemann’s deep fly ball before Patrick Bailey shot an RBI single through a drawn-in infield. Steven Kwan followed with a single before Ramírez chopped a slow grounder toward third and beat it out for an infield hit and an RBI.
“It felt really good,” Ramírez said of making an immediate impact. “But you have to remember that we don’t try to do that only the first time in the game. It’s always for the whole game. We try to get something going for the team.”
Minnesota pulled even with two runs in the third. Alex Jackson doubled, Larnach walked and Brooks Lee lined an RBI single to center before Josh Bell tied the game at 3-3 with a run-scoring groundout.
The game unraveled an inning later.
Rocchio’s low throw on Alan Roden’s ground ball to short opened the door for Minnesota’s decisive four-run fourth. Luke Keaschall and Jackson followed with consecutive singles, with Roden scoring on Jackson’s hit despite a diving stop by Ramírez at third.
After Cecconi retired Larnach on a fly ball, Lee drove the first pitch he saw 401 feet to center for a three-run homer, his 15th of the season, giving Minnesota a 7-3 lead. It was the 15th home run allowed by Cecconi this season.
“I was present in that moment when Brooks Lee hit the homer,” Cecconi said. “I was like, ‘You know what? I’m going to get this guy. I’m going to execute this pitch.’ I just left an 0-0 pitch a little bit up. I’ve got to give him a little credit. He hit a 95-mile-an-hour outer-lane sinker 400 feet to dead center.”
Vogt said the Guardians’ defensive breakdowns were simply out of character.
“We gifted them five runs tonight via the walk or error. Or six, I guess, unearned,” Vogt said. “Just an uncharacteristic night for us defensively.”
Cleveland answered with a run in the bottom of the fourth. Petey Halpin singled and Kwan added his second hit of the night before Ramírez beat out a potential inning-ending double play, allowing Halpin to score from third. The RBI was Ramírez’s 35th of the season and gave him his 441st career game with at least one run scored and one RBI, second-most in franchise history behind Earl Averill.
The Twins added insurance in the eighth as Cleveland’s defensive woes resurfaced. Roden reached on the Guardians’ third error of the night when Ramírez’s throw skipped past first base. Matt Festa then hit Keaschall and walked Jackson to load the bases before Larnach lined a two-run single to center.
Bell followed with an RBI single off Will Dion for his third hit of the series, stretching the Twins lead to 10-4.
Manzardo provided the Guardians’ final offense of the night, launching his 11th home run of the season in the eighth inning off Andrew Morris before driving in Rocchio with an RBI single in the ninth. The solo shot snapped a 59-plate appearance homerless drought dating to June 30.
“It was great for him to get some results,” Vogt said. “I think Manzo’s had a tough month up to this point, but good to see him swing the bat and get some results like that.”
Kwan finished 3 for 5, recording his fourth three-hit game of the season while extending his stretch of reaching base safely to 22 of his last 24 games. DeLauter added a ninth-inning single to extend his on-base streak to 14 games.
The Guardians finished with 13 hits and went 5-for-11 with runners in scoring position, continuing an offensive surge that has them batting .262 in July after hitting just .218 in June. But the defensive lapses overshadowed an otherwise productive night at the plate as Cleveland suffered its first loss this season when collecting at least five hits with runners in scoring position.
Cleveland fell to 42-13 when scoring at least four runs this season and 20-6 when collecting 10 or more hits.
Next:
The series concludes Thursday with a 1:10 p.m. scheduled first pitch from Progressive Field. Right-hander Gavin Williams (10-5, 4.00) will start for Cleveland, while Minnesota turns to righty Taj Bradley (9-4, 3.85). The game will air on Guardians TV, WTAM 1100 AM, WARF 1350 AM (Spanish) and the Guardians Radio Network.
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