Jose breaks through as Guards take over first

 Jose Ramirez finally gave the Guardians what they were seeking from their perennial All-Star and MVP. A jolt of power. Ramirez hit a home run deep into the Cleveland night with two outs in the sixth inning and Cleveland clutching a one-run lead over the pesky Sacramento A’s. It upped the lead to 5-3 and set off a raucous celebration at sold-out Progressive Field as the Guardians went on to beat the Sacramento A’s by that 5-3 score and later on take over complete control of first place in the American League Central with just eight games left on the schedule.

It was part of a big night for Ramirez, who went 2-for-5 and drove in a pair of runs and scored a run to key a Cleveland offense that trailed 3-0 before it even batted.

Cleveland improved to 79-75 with the win, while Chicago dropped to 78-76 after blowing an 8-2 lead at home in what turned out to be an 11-8 loss.

Rookie Travis Bazzana continued his monster September with a solo home run, his fifth in September, which gave Cleveland a 4-3 lead in the fifth inning. Bazzana has been one of the better offensive players in MLB this month. He’s hitting .348 with six home runs and 15 RBI and an OPS of 1.259.

But back to Ramirez, who drove in his 1,000th career RBI, all with Cleveland, with his home run. It’s been a brutal stretch for the 34-year-old, who also stole his 34th base and tied the score at 3 with his RBI single in the fourth inning. Even with his big game on Sept. 18, he is still hitting just .167 in his last seven games with a homer and 3 RBI. He did have two doubles in the Guardians' win on Sept. 16 over Chicago, so it could be that he turned a corner in his comeback from the broken hamate bone suffered in June, which cost him five weeks of the season and has robbed him of his power and ability to hit until recently.

Joey Cantillo picked up the win. The lefty, who has been maddeningly inconsistent this year, pitched six innings of shutout baseball and allowed just two hits and struck out five while walking just one. It was much needed, as Daniel Espino gave the A’s an early 3-0 lead. The rookie righty walked two of the first three A’s hitters before serving up a home run to Zack Gelof to give the A’s an early 3-0 lead and suck the life out of the huge crowd.

Cleveland’s offense struggled early. They loaded the bases and didn't score in the first and second innings. They finally solved starter Mason Barnett in the fourth inning. Patrick Bailey and Petey Halpin singled to open the frame. Bryan Rocchio got the offense going finally with. two-run double to right field to cut the lead to 3-2 and get the Cleveland offense rolling.

Cleveland’s bullpen of Hunter Gaddis and Cade Smith pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth inning, with Gaddis recording his 30th hold and Smith his 38th save.

Two games left on the Ball Park pass. Some of those usher are a real piece of work. They actually moved a guy who looks like an ICE agent in the area where Tony used to stand. Total Ice agent look. Sun glasses, some kind of earpiece, just reeked of being a total dick. The Guardians officially made that section ‘no-standing’. He got all in my face and told me that. I was like OK. But first I told him he should apply for a job at ICE, that he’d probably make more money. I opted to go to the third base side, right by the Barrio stand, behind the Guardians dugout. I had a perfect view of Jose’s home run. I stood next to a retired accountant.

Cleveland sends out Tanner Bibee to the bump tonight at 6:10 p.m. against Oakland. It might rain.

Attendance: 35,391, sellout; Weather: 70, partly cloudy. I stood next to a retired accountant who knew his shit. Ball Park pass holder. He told me Clase sold his contract on a futures market before all the gambling shit went down. It was in the WSJ, allegedly.

Can you believe Guards lost Clase and Ortiz and are still where they are?