KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP)
JosĆ© Ramirez daringly stole home for the go-ahead run in the 10th inning, but the Kansas City Royals rebounded to beat the Cleveland Guardians 4-3 Thursday on pinch-hitter Freddy Ferminās two-run double in the bottom half.
Even with the win, the Royals reached the seasonās midpoint at 23-58, the worst first-half record in team history.
Cleveland manager Terry Francona was in attendance but was not in uniform as an on-going precaution against health concerns. Bench coach DeMarlo Hale managed the Guardians.
Ramirez started the 10th on second base as the automatic runner and advanced on Josh Naylorās groundout. Josh Bell struck out and with an 0-2 count on AndrĆ©s GimĆ©nez and left-hander Aroldis Chapman (4-2) working from the stretch, Ramirez took five small steps toward the plate and burst home.
Ramirez noticed third baseman Maikel Garcia playing behind the base and told third base coach Mike Sarbaugh āIām going to try to steal home.ā
Sarbaugh told him to go for it.
āThere were two outs, so I decided to take a chance,ā Ramirez said.
He slid headfirst and with his body to the infield side of the line, slapped his right hand on the plate as catcher Salvador Perez gloved the high sinker and lunged forward. Umpire Jeremy Riggs called Ramirez out, but the call was reversed in a video review.
āJust instincts. Thatās why heās a great player.ā Hale said. āHeās not afraid to play the game with his instincts. Heād seen an advantage and he took it. He felt he could make it and he did. Great slide.ā
Cleveland had not stolen homer since Leonys Martin on June 15, 2019.
āHeās amazing,ā Guardians starter Shane Bieber said. āWe rely upon him in so many different ways, for him to come up again in another different type of way to do it. It was too bad we couldnāt end up on top after that, because weād like that to be the marquee play of the game, but he provides those all the time.ā
Nicky Lopez singled off Emmanuel Clase (1-5) leading off the bottom of the 10th, moving automatic runner Kyle Isbel to third.
āWhenever I get in the box itās āhow can I get on first baseā,ā Lopez said. āI take a lot of pride in getting on base, so I was trying to do something.ā
Drew Waters took a called third strike, bringing up the pitcherās spot in the order created when designated Bobby Witt Jr. replaced Garcia at shortstop on the ninth inning. Fermin lined a pitch into the left-field corner, easily scoring Isbel and allowing Lopez to score standing up.
āIāve faced him before,ā Fermin said. āJust ready for the cutter and the slider, looking for something up and made a good swing.ā
Clase blew a save for the sixth time in 30 chances.
Cleveland built a 2-0 lead in the fifth on Ramirezās sacrifice fly and Bellās two-out RBI single. Kansas City tied the score in the eighth on Edward Olivaresā sacrifice fly and Nick Prattoās two-out, run-scoring single against Trevor Stephan.
Bieber faced two batters over the minimum, working around leadoff doubles in the second and third innings. He allowed just the two hits in six shutout innings and struck out eight, one on Watersā pitch-clock violation that ended the fifth.
āIt was a grind,ā Bieber said. āTo be honest, it was one of those games that I look forward to, dealing with adversity.ā
Royals starter Zack Greinke surrendered 11 hits and two walks, but limited the Guardians to two runs over six innings while stranding eight baserunners. He is 0-4 in 10 starts since beating Baltimore on May 3.
āMainly just three extra outs on the bases, which helped,ā Greinke said. āThey win a lot of games doing that. It just kind of worked out good for us today.ā
Naylor had two of the Guardianās 13 hits and is hitting .398 (43 for 108) in his last 26 games.
āWe left a lot of men on,ā Hale said. āWe did have our opportunities. It hurts to lose this kind of game with the pitching performance we got from Bieber.ā
TRANSACTIONS
Guardians LHP Logan Allen was optioned to Triple-A Columbus and RHP Michael Kelly recalled from Columbus.
UP NEXT
RHP Cal Quantrill (2-4, 5.61 ERA) will be activated from the 10-day IL (right shoulder inflammation) to start at the Chicago Cubs on Friday.
Dodgers RHP Bobby Miller (3-1, 4.13) will oppose Royals RHP Jordan Lyles (1-11, 6.68) in Fridayās series opener.
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