Tampa.— Dominican
José Ramírez of the
Cleveland Guardians. With a
triple-driving in the sixth inning of the
2-1 victory over the
Tampa Bay Rays, Ramírez reached
938 RBIs and surpassed Hall of Famer
Jim Thome, placing him in
second place in the franchise since RBIs became an official statistic in 1920.
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The hit, a solid contact down the third base line against the pitches of the left-hander
Garrett Cleavinger, allowed his compatriot
Angel Martínez to score the tying run. Minutes later, a run-scoring single by the Venezuelan
Gabriel Arias completed the comeback that secured the four-game series for Cleveland.
The only step that separates Ramírez from the historical lead in RBIs for the club is
Earl Averill, who has
1,084 RBIs. At
32 years old, Ramírez’s offensive projection positions him to become the
all-time RBI leader in franchise history in the next two seasons.
Manager
Stephen Vogt praised the greatness of his star:
“José is going to keep doing this as long as he’s in Cleveland. He’s one of the best players on the planet. It’s a lot of fun and a gift to be able to watch him every day”.
This historic triple adds to another milestone that J-Ram achieved on Saturday, when he recorded his 280th stolen base in Major League Baseball, breaking the tie with the Venezuelan Omar Vizquel to place second in Cleveland’s history in stolen bases, only behind Kenny Lofton (452).
In the
Live Ball Era (since 1920), Ramírez also established himself as one of the
most dynamic third basemen in history. Among players with at least 50% of their games at third base, only
Chone Figgins (341) has more stolen bases than him.
Asked about the importance of his recent achievements, Ramírez responded:
“I think both marks —walks and steals— are very important. They are part of my game: play aggressive, produce runs and find any way to help the team”.
With this victory, the Guardians remain
2.5 games behind the
Seattle Mariners in the fight for the
third American League Wild Card, and Ramírez’s inspiration could be key in the final stretch of the season.
