Takeaways From Cleveland Guardians Series Win Over The Marlins

In the series opener, Ramirez blasted two home runs, making it his 27th career multi-home run game, which is now the most in franchise history, more than Albert Belle, Manny Ramirez, Jim Thome, and Travis Hafner.

Then, in Thursday’s victory, Ramirez came around to score the second run of the game, passing Kenny Lofton for the third-most runs scored in franchise history. He also stole two bags in the series finale and is one steal away from tying Omar Vizquel for the second-most in team history.

At this point, the question should be, which records won’t Ramirez break by the time his playing career is over?  

Cleveland’s Top Two Starters Struggle

The Guardians won the series, which is what’s important, but there were still some unexpected struggles from what should be the top of Cleveland’s rotation.

A week after taking a no-hitter into the ninth inning, Gavin Williams didn’t even make it to the fourth inning against the Marlins. Stephen Vogt thought Miami’s hitters just didn’t offer at Williams’ curveball, and sat on his heater. They were able to put up five hits and four earned runs before his night was over.

The next night, Tanner Bibee took the night as he continues to work through some things on the mound.

Bibee didn’t pitch badly, but he still wasn’t as sharp as he’s been in the past. The right-hander’s biggest problem right now is putting batters away. Bibee is routinely getting up 1-2 or 0-2 on hitters, but they somehow still find a way to get one base. 

There’s no reason to be too concerned about either Bibee or Williams, but these two starts show how important the offense is going to be in the final playoff push. 

Gabriel Arias Has Been Nothing But Clutch For The Guardians

Guess who leads the Guardians in RBI? 

You might assume it’s Jose Ramirez. Nope. Okay, so it’s Kyle Manzardo? Wrong again. 

The player who’s driven in the most runs on Cleveland’s roster this season is Gabriel Arias with 45. Not only does he lead the team in runs driven in, but Arias continues to come through for the Guardians in the clutch.

Arias was responsible for driving in five big runs for the Guardians in their series victory against the Marlins.

In the second game of the series, the slugger worked a nine-pitch at bat against Eury Perez, which ended in a three-run blast for Arias and the Guardians. At the time, this home run tied the game at four runs apiece.

Unfortunately, the game unraveled after that, but that shouldn’t take away how big a home run this was in the moment.

Then, in the series finale, Arias drove in two runs, thanks to a fielder’s choice and then a sacrifice fly. 

After all of Arias' heroics against the Marlins, he also leads the team with a 1.019 OPS with runners in scoring position. The shortstop may not have been the popular pick to be arguably the team’s best player in the clutch this year, but Arias has certainly come through in big moments.

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