CLEVELAND _ Arguably the best sign possible _ and perhaps what the Indians have been hoping for the most the last several months _ is beginning to come to fruition.
Jose Ramirez is heating up.
Ramirez continued his recent hot streak, belting the go-ahead home run, and led the Indians to a 6-3 win over the Detroit Tigers. Since losing the first two games to the Minnesota Twins following the All-Star break, the Indians have now won five consecutive games.
Ramirez entered Thursday night hitting over .350 since June 22 as he's been able to adjust his swing and stay a little more closed as to not pull so many hard hits into foul territory. And on Thursday night, he was the difference.
The Indians (55-40) and Tigers (29-63) entered the sixth tied 3-3 with starter Matt Boyd still on the mound. With a runner on, Ramirez drove a two-run home run over the 19-foot wall in left field to put the Indians on top for good. As soon as it left the bat, Boyd knew it was gone. It was Ramirez's ninth home run of the season and his fourth since June 22. It also extended his hitting streak to 10 games.
The Indians first took an early 2-0 lead, fell behind 3-2 and then tied it 3-3 in the fifth. They took the lead via an expected source of income against left-handed pitching. Though, they tied it with a part of the lineup not expected to produce as much.
Facing the left-handed Boyd, who along with Trevor Bauer make up a heavy portion of the starting pitchers expected to be made available prior to the trade deadline, Carlos Santana doubled in the first inning and was followed by Jordan Luplow, who belted a two-run home run to the Home Run Porch in left field. Luplow entered the game with an OPS of 1.069 against lefties this season, and nine of his 10 home runs have now come against southpaws.
A couple of home runs by the Tigers against Bauer put the Indians in a 3-2 hole. Niko Goodrum in the second inning blasted a solo shot and Harold Castro an inning later added a two-run home run.
The Indians on Thursday aligned their lineup in a somewhat unconventional way. Manager Terry Francona left three lefties batting at the bottom of the lineup in a row as way to try to focus on combatting Boyd rather than worrying about how the order might be susceptible to the Tigers' bullpen later on in the game. Still, it was those three lefties _ Jason Kipnis, Jake Bauers and Tyler Naquin _ who came through in the fifth to tie it.
With one out, Kipnis singled and Bauers followed with a single of his own that, coupled with an error on Nicholas Castellanos, but both in scoring position. Naquin made it count, driving a ball to left field to score Kipnis with a sacrifice fly and deadlock the score at 3-3.
Bauer allowed three runs on five hits and two walks and struck out 10. It was his 25th career double-digit strikeout game with the Indians, giving him sole possession of fifth place in franchise history.
The Indians in the eighth finally had a challenge go their way. With two on and Adam Cimber on the mound, Castellanos grounded a ball to Kipnis at second base. He reached to tag Castellanos and threw to first, but Castellanos was called safe. After a 2:56 review, the play was overturned, and Kipnis sarcastically threw his hands in the air in relief in recognition of the Indians being on the wrong end of several challenges in the last week.
Brad Hand entered and recorded the final outs for his 26th save of the season. The Indians added an insurance run in the eighth via a Ramirez fly ball that dropped thanks to a miscue by the Tigers and went as a fielder's choice to score Oscar Mercado.
