CLEVELAND -- José Ramírez has made it a routine to etch his name alongside Hall of Famer Earl Averill in the Cleveland franchise record books. We got our latest example on Sunday.
Ramírez belted a pair of home runs in the Guardians’ 8-4 win over the Orioles at Progressive Field. In doing so, the 33-year-old passed Averill for sole possession of the second-most homers at home by a player in Cleveland franchise history, with 138.
Ramírez tied Averill in the fourth inning; he belted a solo shot off Baltimore starter Trevor Rogers. Ramírez surpassed the Hall of Fame outfielder in the fifth, when he hit another solo shot off Rogers.
Averill hit 126 homers at League Park and another 11 at Cleveland Stadium. Jim Thome is the Cleveland all-time leader with 184 home runs at home, a mark that Ramírez figures to break over the remainder of his playing career.
The same can be said about Cleveland’s franchise home run record, which is also held by Thome (337).
Ramírez’s blasts off Rogers on Sunday marked Nos. 290 and 291 in his stellar career. His first home run broke a scoreless tie, and came on Rogers’ first pitch of the fourth inning. Ramírez hit it a Statcast-projected 408 feet over the 19-foot wall in left field.
Ramírez’s second homer came with one out in the fifth. He hit a 1-1 changeup from Rogers a projected 379 feet, tucking it inside the left-field foul pole.
Sunday marked Ramírez’s 28th career multi-homer game, two more than anyone else in Cleveland history.