An MVP can carry an entire baseball team, and that’s what Jose Ramirez is doing for the Cleveland Guardians.

Ramirez hit his 15th home run of the year last night as Cleveland defeated the LA Angels 4-3 for the Guardians’ eighth victory in a row.

How hot is Ramirez? He has 10 home runs in his last 19 games. At the plate, he’s making it look easy.

Last night was a great time for his heroics, as Ramirez’s teammates only contributed four hits.

In fact, it’s amazing that Cleveland has won eight straight games when you look at these batting averages:

·        Tyler Freeman .214

·        Will Brennan .229

·        Kyle Manzardo .191

·        Esteban Florial .175

·        Bo Naylor .172

·        Brayan Rocchio .206

THIRD INNING MADNESS

If you were at the ballgame in Anaheim and went to the concession stand in the third inning, you missed all the scoring.

Freeman put Cleveland on the scoreboard, hitting a single to score Florial. Rocchio moved to third on the play, and he scored on a wild pitch by Angels starter Jose Soriano (2-5).

Ramirez doubled the Guardians’ score with his two-run homer.

In the bottom of the inning, Cleveland starter Tanner Bibee (3-1) gave up a three-run homer to Taylor Ward, but that was all the damage the Angels could inflict.

Indeed, competent starting pitching has been the secret ingredient of the Guardians’ success. Cleveland starters haven’t been lights out, but they have been good enough to keep the team in the game.

The bullpen has been superb, as Cade Smith, Hunter Gaddis, and Emmanuel Clase combined for five strikeouts over the last three innings to seal the victory.

WHAT’S YOUR SWEEP NUMBER?

Cleveland’s will be three if they can beat Los Angeles one more time today. Ben Lively will start for the Guardians against Angels lefty Reid Detmers. First pitch is set for 4:07 p.m.