CLEVELAND -- As he made his way through the Guardians’ third-base dugout, high-fiving everyone in sight with the team’s ceremonial Knight’s helmet, José Ramírez’s name echoed across Progressive Field.
Ramírez’s two-run home run got the Guardians off and running on Saturday and ultimately sent them to a 2-0 win over the White Sox in Game 5 of the American League Division Series. Cleveland secured a matchup with the Rays in the AL Championship Series with a comeback for the ages.
The Guardians are the 11th team to lose the first two games of a best-of-five postseason series and then come back to win. They’re the first to do so since the 2017 Yankees, who completed the feat against Cleveland in this ballpark. The Guards are the ninth to pull off the feat in the Division Series; two teams did it in the League Championship Series, when that had a best-of-five format.
This franchise has been on the wrong side of this equation nearly a dozen times. Cleveland entered Saturday 2-9 in win-or-go-home games. The Guardians gave their fanbase a memory they won’t soon forget.
They did so with a comeback their superstar third baseman embodied perfectly.
Ramírez had a forgettable regular season marred by the left hamate surgery he underwent in June. He still is dealing with the impacts of that procedure, and it was fair to wonder what he would provide the Guardians once the calendar flipped to October.
Ramírez went 0-for-6 in Games 1 and 2, both of which Cleveland lost. He went 5-for-12 with a double, two homers and seven RBIs in the Guardians’ wins in Games 3-5.
“José’s the GOAT. He’s always one swing away. We know that,” said starter Gavin Williams on the field postgame. “We believe in him, we love him, and he’s just gonna do what José knows how to do.”
This, of course, was a team-wide effort. Williams delivered a performance that will go down in franchise lore, racking up 12 strikeouts over 5 2/3 scoreless innings two days after he closed out Game 4 with an emergency relief appearance. Closer Cade Smith (who threw 50 pitches across Games 3 and 4) tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings Saturday to earn the save.
These Guardians erased a 5 1/2-game deficit over the final six weeks of the regular season to track down the White Sox and win the AL Central.
Six days after it was on the brink, Cleveland found a way to chase down Chicago again.
“It’s fun. We love this,” Williams said. “We’ve done it all year. We did it last year. We’re not gonna back down from anything.”
With four more wins, the Guards will be World Series bound.