ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — José Ramírez’s mental mistake and fielding error cost Cleveland in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series, a day after his bat helped boost the Guardians to an opening win.
He left third base uncovered on Chandler Simpson’s fourth-inning infield chopper, then misplayed Ben Williamson’s grounder for an error that led to three unearned runs as the Tampa Bay Rays evened the best-of-seven series with a 3-1 win Tuesday night.
“It’s a little bit faster here with the surface and I was playing parallel to the base,” Ramírez said through a translator. “The ball bounced right on the edge between the dirt and the turf, and that’s what made it a little more difficult for me. I tried to knock it down.”
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“It’s frustrating. I feel bad because I wasn’t able to make that play and after that the runs came in. I feel bad about that,” he added.
A seven-time All-Star who has finished among the top five in MVP voting six times, Ramírez had three hits and scored twice in Cleveland’s 7-3 win in the opener.
Game 2 was 0-0 with Victor Mesa Jr. on first and two outs in the fourth when Chandler Simpson beat out a high chopper to shortstop Brayan Rocchio.
Ramírez, shifted toward second base on the left-handed hitter, took a few steps toward Simpson and watched the shortstop throw to first. Seeing third base uncovered, Mesa rounded second and sped to third standing up as Ramírez tried in vain to catch up.
Four pitches later, Williamson hit a two-hopper that struck the edge of where the artificial turf meets the dirt near third. The ball skipped between Ramírez’s legs into left, allowing Mesa to score.
“José kind of got stuck. It looked like he just didn’t move his feet,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “Just kind of looked like he sat back a little bit with his feet set instead of moving his feet. So tough break right there and obviously they capitalized.”
Liam Hicks pulled Parker Messier’s next pitch, a slider, into right-center for a two-run single and a 3-0 lead.
“They’ve done that all year. When they smell blood, they take it and run,” Vogt said. “We had some sloppy plays in the field that we need to clean up.”
Ramírez homered in Games 4 and 5 of the Division Series as Cleveland overcame a 0-2 series deficit, the first Cleveland player to homer in consecutive postseason games since Francisco Lindor in 2018.
ALCS Game 3 moved up to afternoon with threat of rain
Thursday’s Game 3 of the AL Championship Series between the Tampa Bay Rays and Cleveland Guardians has been moved up to a 1 p.m. start because of the threat of rain in Cleveland on Thursday night.
Major League Baseball moved the start time up five hours in order for the series to remain on schedule. The game will still be broadcast on TBS and other TNT Sports platforms.
After that switch, MLB also moved up the start of Game 4 of the NL Championship Series between the Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday. That game in Los Angeles will now start an hour earlier, at 5 p.m. local time (8 p.m.). The Brewers lead that series 2-0.
The best-of-seven ALCS is even at 1-1 after the Rays’ 3-1 victory Tuesday night. Cleveland took the series opener 7-3 on Monday.
Tampa Bay will send right-hander Griffin Jax to the mound. Jax (8-10, 3.52 ERA) struck out four and gave up one run in two innings of relief against the New York Yankees in the Division Series.
Cleveland is expected to go with Gavin Williams (14-8, 3.76 ERA), who led the American League in strikeouts. The right-hander started Games 2 and 5 against the White Sox and tossed an inning in relief in Game 4. He had 24 strikeouts in 11 2/3 innings, allowing two runs and six hits.
Friday’s game still has a start time of 6 p.m. and Saturday’s first pitch is slated for 8 p.m.
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