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José Ramírez and Kyle Manzardo are 'so much fun to watch' in Guardians lineup
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- José Ramírez and Kyle Manzardo are 'so much fun to watch' in Guardians lineup
CLEVELAND — Guardians third baseman José Ramírez loves to reference the "home run pitch" in postgame interviews on the field with TV announcer and Akron native Andre Knott .
Ramírez and Kyle Manzardo continued to be a powerful combination as the 3-4 hitters in the Guardians lineup on Monday, April 21, when they hit back-to-back home runs in a 6-4 win over the New York Yankees before a crowd of 20,896 at Progressive Field.
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Ramírez smacked a three-run home run, his fifth of the season, to also score Brayan Rocchio and Steven Kwan to give the Guardians 3-0 lead.
Manzardo followed with a solo home run, his seventh of the season, to make it 4-0.
Yankees starter Clarke Schmidt surrendered the blasts, which both cleared the right field fence.
"It's so much fun to watch," Guardians pitcher Cade Smith said after striking out Aaron Judge to end the game for his first save of the season. "When those guys are hot, they bring great energy to the clubhouse, to the lineup. It's great for our offense, gets other guys rolling, and then it's just a matter of passing the torch and continuing that momentum."
Cleveland Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez (11) throws to first for an out against the New York Yankees on April 21, 2025, in Cleveland, Ohio.
Ramírez joined Josh Naylor last season to give the Guardians two players with 30 or more homers. Naylor was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the offseason for pitcher Slade Cecconi and the Guardians brought back Carlos Santana for his third stint in Cleveland.
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Ramírez joked after the game through Guardians interpreter Agustin Rivero that Manzardo is "trying to chase me."
"OK," Ramírez continued. "I'm going to get going. So, see if you can keep up."
Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt (12) gestures from the dugout against the Pittsburgh Pirates on April 20, 2025, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Guardians manager Stephen Vogt loves to hear playful banter among his players.
"You always are competing with your teammates," Vogt said. "That's what makes us better. I told these guys that at spring training — when you compete with each other, it's going to make us better because you have to elevate yourself. You have to elevate your game.
"... We talk so much crap to each other and we are always trying to push each other to be better. That's all it is. That's all the smack talk is, you're pushing each other to be at your best every single night."
Cleveland Guardians cleanup hitter Kyle Manzardo watches the ball after hitting a solo home run off New York Yankees starting pitcher Clarke Schmidt on April 21, 2025, in Cleveland, Ohio.
Kyle Manzardo leads Guardians in home runs and RBIs
Manzardo entered Tuesday as the Guardians leader in home runs (seven) and RBIs (17) after hitting a home run in three consecutive games. He played a key role in a three-game weekend series sweep of the host Pittsburgh Pirates with a solo homer off Paul Skenes on Saturday, April 19 , and a two-run homer off Joey Wentz on Sunday, April 20 .
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"After Josey's homer, I went up there and just kind of keyholed the middle of the plate," Manzardo said. "I was looking for something over the plate. Right after the home run [by Ramírez] I figured he would be trying to get into the zone, and I got my swing on."
Cleveland Guardians' Jose Ramirez (11) is congratulated by Steven Kwan (38) and shortstop Brayan Rocchio (4) after hitting a three-run home run against the New York Yankees on April 21, 2025, in Cleveland, Ohio.
José Ramírez rises up Guardians franchise records lists
The three-run home run by Ramírez gave him 668 career extra-base hits, which passed Tris Speaker for second-most all-time in franchise history, trailing only Earl Averill's 724 extra-base hits from 1929-39. Speaker played in Cleveland from 1916-26.
"Very happy with that and thanking God for keeping me healthy to be able to achieve that," Ramírez said through Rivero.
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Ramírez added an RBI single in the sixth inning that scored Kwan to cap his 34th career game with four or more RBIs, the fourth most in franchise history behind Manny Ramírez (35), Hal Trosky (37) and Averill (41).
Cleveland Guardians' Jose Ramirez (11) stares into the New York Yankees dugout after hitting a three-run home run on April 21, 2025, in Cleveland, Ohio.
"He has been doing it at the highest level for a really long time, [13] years at this point," Manzardo said of Ramírez. "He is definitely somebody to look up to and watch closely."
Vogt lauded José Ramírez for being "an unbelievably great player who has played a long time."
"It's hard to be great, let alone hard to be great consistently year after year after year, Vogt said. "And for Josey, every time you guys tell me, 'Oh, he tied this,' it's like, 'Of course he did.' You've run out of ways to describe him. Josey always steps up for us."
Cleveland Guardians starter Gavin Williams throws a pitch against the New York Yankees on April 21, 2025, in Cleveland, Ohio.
Gavin Williams give Guardians a quality start
Gavin Williams benefitted from the two homers and three double plays made behind him. He relied on his cutter, fastball, curveball and his sweeper to strike out eight and limit the Yankees to two runs, seven hits and two walks over 6⅓ innings.
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"Last [bull]pen actually, I brought it [the cutter] back out," Williams said. "I had a conversation with the pitching coaches and they thought it was a good idea to bring it out. Having four pitches rather than three pitches helps out big time. Being able to throw it back door to a lefty and even down and away to a righty, it helps out. It opens up everything."
Guardians reliever Paul Sewald pitched 1⅓ innings, Joey Cantillo recorded one out and Smith struck out two in a scoreless ninth.
Cleveland Guardians relief pitcher Cade Smith (36) throws a pitch against the New York Yankees on April 21, 2025, in Cleveland, Ohio.
Vogt said he appreciated how Williams "stepped up on a night that we had to have him step up."
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"We were really, really light in the bullpen tonight, and Gavin did his job and more just to get us into the seventh," Vogt said. "It allowed for us to be able to not stretch anybody out too far of who we did have available. Our pitching up and down was outstanding.
"... [Williams'] fastball was outstanding. The cutter, added the cutter back. He got some really good weak contact and swings and misses. He was executing the curve ball. I mean, it was just a beautifully thrown game by Gavin."
Michael Beaven can be reached by email at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com .
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: José Ramírez, Kyle Manzardo bring power to Cleveland Guardians lineup
