Best-Jose Ramirez 3B Cleveland Indians-4-5 3R 4RBI 2HR
The Cleveland Indians are coming off two straight walk-off losses to the Chicago Cubs and are slowly fading down the American League ranks. But on Thursday, Jose Ramirez put the team on his back to take down the Detroit Tigers. Ramirez has had an up and down season, but when he gets hot, he tends to stay hot for a while.
Cleveland could use some of that heat right now. They don’t want to go into the playoffs playing lousy baseball. The standings have Cleveland facing off against the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays would be a really tough team to play in a three-game series, and one of the few teams that would be able to match Cleveland’s pitching staff. If Ramirez is going to hit this offense, he will tip the scales in Clevland’s favor.
Other Notables: Shane Bieber SP Cleveland-7.2IP 4H 3ER 2BB 10K 1W; Giancarlo Stanton DH 4-5 1R 2RBI 1HR; Framber Valdez SP Astros-6.1IP 4H 1ER 1BB 11K 1W; Robinson Cano 2B Mets-2-5 1R 4RBI 1HR; Steven Brault SP Pirates-9IP 2H 1ER 2BB 8K 1W.
Worst-Austin Gomber RP St Louis Cardinals-1.2IP 4H 4ER 2BB 2K 1L
The Cardinals were not going to have an easy road to the playoffs after missing 15 games because of a COVID outbreak. Playing catch up has taken a toll on St. Louis, especially the pitching.
Austin Gomber came in after starter Dakota Hudson felt some elbow tightness, and he blew the game, allowing the Pirates to score four runs in less than two innings. I understand that Gomber probably wasn’t ready to be in the game, but the Pirates’ offense is one of the worst in the league, and the Cardinals couldn’t afford this game on Thursday. After this bad loss, the Cardinals have fallen out of the playoffs by .5 game and are no longer in second place for the NL Central. If the Cardinals’ pitching doesn’t recover, you can count them out the postseason.
Extra Trash: Niko Goodrum 2B Tigers-0-4 3K; Cole Sulser RP Orioles-.1IP 2H 3ER 1BB 0K 1L; Andrew McCutchen OF Phillies-0-5 2K; Aaron Nola SP Phillies-5.1IP 5H 5ER 5BB 7K; Teoscar Hernandez OF Blue Jays-0-5 4K.