CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Indians signed designated hitter Hanley Ramirez in spring training believing he could be a middle-of-the-order slugger for a team in need of a power bat after an offseason roster overhaul.
And after a rocky first game with the Indians (1-1), Ramirez delivered the kind of pop Cleveland will need out of the middle of the lineup in a 2-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins (1-1) at Target Field in Minneapolis Saturday afternoon.
With two outs in the top of the fourth inning, Ramirez stepped to the plate and worked his way into a 3-0 hitter’s count. Sitting on a four-seam fastball from Twins starting pitcher Jake Odorizzi, Ramirez belted the offering into the left-field seats for Cleveland’s first home run of the season.
The 416-foot blast, Ramirez’s first round-tripper since May 12, 2018, was hit into a stiff wind and nearly made it into the third deck at Target Field.
“Something that I could handle, middle in, so I put on a good swing, and it was exactly where I was looking,” Ramirez told the Indians Live postgame show following the win.
“I was feeling it in the cage, and when I feel like my swing is there, short and quick, I’ve just got to go on the field and put the same swing in on the field.”
Ramirez went two for two with one run scored, one RBI and two walks in four plate appearances in the victory over the Twins.
The Indians took a 2-1 lead in the top of the ninth inning when first baseman Carlos Santana reached base safely on a single to right field and advanced to third base on back-to-back wild pitches from Twins reliever Blake Parker.
After Ramirez drew a walk, pinch hitter Greg Allen lifted an RBI sacrifice fly to center field. Then, Indians closer Brad Hand worked his way around a lead-off double and bases-loaded jam in the bottom half of the ninth inning to close out the victory.
The Indians will go for the series win over their American League Central Division foe at Target Field this afternoon.
