Written by Gabriel Baumgaertner at SI.com
Indians third baseman Jose Ramirez finished Sunday’s 11-1 win over the Tigers with five extra-base hits and two home runs, yet the only way he could get on the highlight reel was through the gaffes of others. His first home run, off of Tigers starter Chad Bell in the first inning, hit of the top of the wall twice before being inexplicably slapped over the fence by leftfielder Mikie Mahtook. Five innings later Ramirez clubbed a Zac Renninger offering to rightfield, which doinked off of the glove of Alex Presley. Ramirez hit home runs from both sides of the plate and became the first switch hitter in major league history to record five extra-base hits in one game, but the yuks overshadowed his exploits. Ramirez now sits at .310/.363/.558 with 23 home runs and a team-leading OPS+ of 134, yet the 24-year-old utility player remains generally underappreciated, if indispensable to one of baseball’s best teams.
Perhaps it’s symptomatic of the Indians themselves. Despite taking the Cubs to the brink in the World Series last season, they have lost screen time to the Dodgers’ historic season, the power show of Giancarlo Stanton and the wild AL wild card race. Yet, here they are: Owners of a 12-game winning streak that is the longest of any team this season, boasting the current AL Cy Young favorite in Corey Kluber and rolling to a second straight division title. Cleveland is now 10 games up in the AL Central and just three games behind Houston for homefield advantage throughout the American League playoffs.
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