Jose Ramirez is the Guardians' one-man show: 'He's the best in the game'

CLEVELAND — Some nights, Jose Ramirez really can lift the Guardians onto his shoulders and win a game all on his own.

He has the ability to, at times, take over games like few players in the league. And Thursday night he was a one-man show who dominated the Boston Red Sox in the Guardians' 10-3 win. It effectively turned into roughly a three-hour showcase of why he's finished in the top six in American League MVP voting in five of the last six years.

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In his first at-bat of the night, facing Red Sox left-handed starter Matt Dermody, Ramirez drilled a line-drive home run to left field. His next at-bat was again against Dermody and again had the same result, as he belted his second homer of the game.

See the videos: Watch as Jose Ramirez has a 3-home run night and one of the best defensive plays of 2023

For his third at-bat, he faced right-hander and former teammate Corey Kluber. And Ramirez, now hitting from the left side of the plate, launched his third home run of the night to right field.

Jose Ramirez makes Guardians history with three-homer night

Three at-bats, three home runs, with two coming from the right side and one from the left. It was Ramirez's first career three-homer game and the first for the Guardians since Edwin Encarnacion on May 2, 2018, against the Texas Rangers.

The third home run of the game was also No. 201 for his career, which moved Ramirez into ninth place on the team's all-time list, passing Travis Hafner. And it was the seventh time in his career he's homered from both sides of the plate in the same game.

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But he'd have two more chances to make even more history. There have been only 16 four-homer games in the majors since 1901. No player has done it since J.D. Martinez in 2017. No Cleveland player has accomplished that feat since Rocky Colavito in 1959.

In his fourth at-bat, again against Kluber, Ramirez struck out. And in his fifth and final at-bat, he grounded out to third.

But there was no doubt — with the Guardians holding a comfortable lead — that he had only one result on his mind — crush it.

"My last two at-bats, I was swinging away," Ramirez admitted through a team translator.

Manager Terry Francona was just hoping the count wouldn't dictate an awkward position with Ramirez on the precipice of even rarer history.

When Francona was asked if he was pulling for home run No. 4, he joked, "What I was really pulling for was [that] they didn't go to a 3-0 count on him, because I didn't want to be the one to have him take [a pitch]."

Jose Ramirez makes a Brooks Robinson-esque play, arguably the defensive highlight of the Guardians 2023 season

But even though the three home runs were the most notable aspect of Thursday's game, it wasn't the single best play. That also belonged to Ramirez, but with his glove.

Justin Turner led off the Red Sox sixth with a ground ball down the third-base side. Ramirez ranged to his right and, as he was falling away from first base, made the cross-diamond throw from foul territory and robbed Turner of a hit.

"If that was back in the day like Brooks Robinson, that play would be shown over and over and over," Francona said. "It was kind of reminiscent of that play against Tampa in the playoffs [last October]. It was a great play."

Jose Ramirez could be as important to his team as any player in baseball

Within the course of, really, two-thirds of one game, Ramirez belted three home runs and made arguably the defensive play of the season for the Guardians to date.

He is, through and through, their team MVP, their heart and their core. There have been many examples of that, but none better than Thursday night at Progressive Field.

"Everyone [in this clubhouse] would say the same thing: he's the best player in the game," said starting pitcher Aaron Civale. "He plays the game the best way every single night.

"He might not be on paper the most talented. He might not be considered the best. But when he plays the game the way he plays it, he's the best in the game."

The Los Angeles Angels' Shohei Ohtani is likely the most talented player in the game. The New York Yankees' Aaron Judge could again repeat as AL MVP. And, yet, an argument exists that no player is more important, more crucial, to his team's success than Ramirez.

"I still get happy for him because I know what he goes through to play every day, every inning, like it's his last," Francona said. "You don't see many great players play like that."

Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Guardians at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/cleveland-guardians. Follow him on Twitter at @ByRyanLewis.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Jose Ramirez has three-homer night for Guardians: 'He's the best'