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MINNEAPOLIS – When Jose Ramirez makes hard contact and exploits the bases thoroughly, Indians can be a handful.
Ramirez did well on Wednesday night and the Indians, with just 19 games to go on the calendar, shed their September funk to beat the Twins, 12-3, in the season’s inter-team final.
In the first inning, Ramirez fielded a single on the wall to right field. He tried to stretch it to a double and was sent off by Max Kepler despite a face first slip. But instead of deflating Ramirez and his teammates, it seemed to inspire them.
Ramirez, who entered the game with a .195 strike (8v41) in September, went 3v4 with two runs batted in and two runs as the Indians ended the night with 14 hits. Ramirez’s teammates followed his lead, hitting double-digit points for the second time this month.
“Jose tries to make things happen all the time,” said Oscar Mercado, whose three-run homer in the fifth gave the Indians a 4-0 lead. “It passes from guy to guy. He does an incredible job, always thinking outside the box. He’s still trying to get the defense to stop him.
But before the runs arrived, there was right-hander Cal Quantrill. Facing the Twins in back-to-back starts, Quantrill held them scoreless in six innings before Miguel Sano hit a three-run homer in the seventh. Quantrill should have been out of the inning without damage, but Kepler’s two-time foul, caught in the winds above Target Field, flipped first baseman Bobby Bradley as he fell to the ground in front of the first base to extend the sleeve.
Quantrill (6-3, 3.09) walked Kepler and gave Sano the 28th homer on a 2-0 ground. When he walked Nick Gordon out, he was done for the night. Bradley was charged with a mistake, which made the three runs against Quantrill undeserved.
When asked if the error affected him, Quantrill replied, “It shouldn’t. If I let him do it, it’s up to me. Our guys are over there grinding. Bobby did three runs tonight. You cannot complain about some things and not complain about others. He’s a great athlete and has played well all year for us at first base. Good pitchers move on. I needed to settle down and make a quality pitch.
In back-to-back starts against the Twins, Quantrill went 2-0 with a 0.63 ERA (one run in 14 1/3 innings). Quantrill is 6-1 in his last 13 starts.
“What stands out about Cal is that he’s capable of attacking hitters in different ways,” said interim manager DeMarlo Hale. “I thought his fastpitch was good tonight. He mixed in his cutter. I may have counted 10 or 11 fly balls. They got under the ball and I think it’s a tribute to life on his fastpitch.
“Just a great effort on his part. He throws with confidence, but also conviction. He knows what he wants to do. “
The Indians started scoring in the fourth quarter and didn’t stop for the rest of the night. Ramirez doubled up with a withdrawal from rookie Griffin Jax (3-4, 6.65). Bradley doubled him at home with two strikeouts for a 1-0 lead.
Mercado’s three-run homerun in the fifth made it 4-0. Myles Straw held this round with a one-two double. He went third on Bradley Zimmer’s field and scored on the fly of Ramirez’s sacrifice to make it 5-0.
The circuit was Mercado’s fifth of the season and second against the Twins. He defeated Andrew Albers on September 9 at Progressive Field. He started the attack at bat trying to push Austin Hedges and Andres Gimenez forward with a bunt, but couldn’t knock him down.
“I remember I had faced him before,” said Mercado. “He bombarded me with several cursors. So I had a plan for the game today. I was frustrated with my first batting (batting third inning). I didn’t do the job of trying to get those cavities out early. I was just happy that I was able to do it another way.
The Indians pushed the lead to 10-0 with a seventh inning in five runs. Bradley’s two-run homer, his 13th this season and his first since Aug. 31, provided the final two runs of the round. Zimmer, Ramirez and Franmil Reyes also had runs.
Reyes tied an arc around the game with a first homer in the ninth. He reached the second bridge on the left with his 29th homerun of the season.
Straw, Ramirez and Reyes ended the night with three hits each. Yu Chang was the only non-hitting starter.
“I just thought they had a proven track record,” Hale said. “The first rounds, there were zeros on the board. Josie had some good swings. He was aggressive trying to get to second place. I know he was kicked out, but we were in an aggressive mode.
The Indians finished the season series against the Twins at 8-11. They lost back-to-back season series to Minnesota for the first time in three straight 2008-10 losses.
The win put them 6-9 in September.
Next: The Indians are off Thursday before opening a three-game homestand against the Yankees in the Bronx. Zach Plesac (10-5, 4.45) is due to kick off the opener on Friday at 7:05 p.m. The Yankees have not named a starter. Bally Sports Great Lakes, WTAM, WMMS and the Indians radio network will broadcast the game.
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