DETROIT — José Ramírez homered twice to give him 26 this season and had an RBI double, providing plenty of offense for the AL Central-leading Cleveland Guardians in an 8-4 win over the Detroit Tigers on Monday night.
“He just continues to amaze me on a nightly basis,” Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said.
Ramírez's second homer was No. 242 of his career, tying him with Albert Belle for second in Cleveland history behind Jim Thome's 337. He has 25 multihomer games, one shy of the totals of Thome and Belle.
“The most important part of trying to win,” Ramírez said.
Tanner Bibee Bibee (9-4) kept the Tigers scoreless until they opened the seventh inning with three straight hits, including Dillon Dingler's RBI double in his major league debut. That chased Bibee, who gave up two runs on seven hits in six-plus innings.
All-Star Josh Naylor returned to the lineup after resting the previous three games and scored when his brother, Bo, hit a three-run homer off in the three-run sixth that put Cleveland ahead 7-0
The Guardians made a move on the eve of trade deadline, acquiring outfielder Lane Thomas from Washington.
“One of our goals heading into the deadline was to try to find a way to lengthen the lineup and add some offense,” Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said.
Cleveland, whose winning percentage trailed only Philadelphia's, is in the market for starting pitching.
Detroit, meanwhile, is expected to deal at least one player to bolster a contender's rotation.
Right-hander Jack Flaherty was scheduled to start the series opener against the Guardians, but was scratched four-plus hours before the first pitch.
“This time of year is pretty stressful and putting him on the mound tonight felt like the wrong thing to do for him and for us,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said.
Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris also will have to decide whether it makes sense to trade All-Star Tarik Skubal, who is 12-3 with a 2.35 ERA. Dealing the 28-year-old Flaherty, who has a $14 million, one-year contract and can become a free agent, seems to make sense for a fourth-place team still trying to rebuild.
“He's a really good pitcher, I know that, and it's never fun facing him,” Antonetti said. “I'm sure if Scott decides it’s the right thing for the Tigers to trade Skubal, he’ll get a great return for him.”
Flaherty is 7-5 in 18 starts with a 2.95 ERA. Since making his major league debut with St. Louis in 2017, he is 49-39 with a 3.64 ERA.
St. Louis traded him nearly a year ago to Baltimore and he’s bracing himself to be on the move again.
“Having dealt with it last year makes it easier,” he said. “You just go out and try to make pitches and execute in game. That’s all you can do. Everything else is just part of the game. You start to realize that as you get into it.”
Detroit did make several moves before the game, including putting shortstop Javier Báez on the medical emergency list to attend to family matters.
Beau Brieske (1-2) got just two outs and gave up three runs and five hits in the first inning.
Detroit selected the contract of Bryan Sammons from Triple-A Toledo and the 29-year-old lefty gave up five runs and four hits over 7 1/3 innings in his major league debut.
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Cleveland RHP Gavin Williams (0-3, 4.50) is expected to pitch Tuesday.
