Thumbs Up: Harold Ramirez Gets Big Hit, Helps Rays Beat Royals
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The worst part, Harold Ramirez said, was the waiting. After breaking his right thumb in mid-July, he couldn't touch a bat for three weeks.
A hitter who couldn't hit.
Ramirez, a 27-year-old Colombian, was acquired by Tampa Bay from the Chicago Cubs in late March, traded for a journeyman minor-leaguer. And, as it's turned out, it might have been the best trade the Rays have made all year.
Ramirez is hitting .337, best on the team, and he had another big day on Sunday in the Rays' critical 3-2 win over the Kansas City Royals, He had three hits, with the biggest coming in the fifth inning, when he drove in Brandon Lowe for what turned out to be the winning run. Since rejoining the team on Tuesday, he's hit safely in all five games and is hitting .429, with nine hits in 21 at-bats.
That's Harold Ramirez — doing Harold Ramirez things.
“He's on a tear right now, and we're 100 percent glad he's back,” Rays starter Ryan Yarbrough said. “He brings so much to the table, especially his attitude and the vibes he gives off in the clubhouse. But, obviously, especially what he does on the field, it's really big for us.
“It’s impressive (the contact he makes). I’m glad he’s on our team, I’ll just say that.”
Ramirez and outfielder Manuel Margot both returned to the Rays this week. Ramirez missed a month and Margot, who had a serious knee sprain, missed two. Now they're both back for the final quarter of the season and the playoff chase that's sure to last right up to the final pitch on Oct. 5.
Their return adds depth to the Rays' lineup and comes at a perfect time. They won three of four games against Kansas City, winning their third straight series. They are now at the top of the wild-card standings, tied with Toronto, and they've got a 2.5-game cushion on the Minnesota Twins.
They're also just eight games behind the reeling New York Yankees in the American League East race. The Rays, who have won the division in each of the past two years, have gained 7.5 games on the Yankees this month.
And they have every intention of continuing that pursuit. They'll take every win they can get, even if it comes on seeing-eye singles like Ramirez had, both in the fifth for the game-winner and in the first inning, when he drove in the first run of the. game.
"We have a very good team, with very good pitchers, and everybody wants to be in the playoffs,'' Ramirez said. "I have the same approach every day. Some days we'll hit it hard. Some days we hit it slow. That's part of the game, because it's hard to hit the baseball. So I just have the same approach and focus on hitting the ball.”
The Rays used a little small-ball to score in the first. Randy Arozarena singled and then stole second, his 23rd theft of the year, and then he scored when Ramirez pushed a grounder to right that got through the infield.
The Rays scored again in the second on Christian Bethancourt's seventh homer of the year. but the Royals tied it up in the top of the fifth with two unearned runs off of Yarbrough. But the Rays answered right back with Ramirez's hit in bottom of the inning, and the Rays' bullpen took it from there.
Rays manager Kevin Cash loves Ramirez's approach at the plate “because sticks with it” and “doesn’t try to do too much.”
“If you’re going to work away, he’ll beat you away,” Cash said. “If you’re going to come inside, he can pull balls like we saw (against the Yankees, earlier in the week).”
The Rays got another impressive outing from Yarbrough, who pitched four scoreless innings and allowed just two hits before running into some trouble in the fifth, but through little fault of his own. He walked Royals center fielder Kyle Isbel with one out, but then induced a ground ball in the hole from Nicky Lopez to second baseman Brandon Lowe. He spun and threw to second, hoping for a double play, but his throw was wide for an error. It was his second error of the game.
MJ Melendez then followed that up with a single to right, scoring Isbel to make it 2-1. Yarbrough had already thrown 28 pitches in the inning — the Lopez at-bat went 13 pitches — so Cash decided to bring in Shawn Armstrong to face right-handed hitting Bobby Witt Jr. He got him to fly out to end the inning.
Armstrong (2-1) wound up getting the win thanks to the Ramirez RBI in the bottom of the fifth. He got four outs, as did Colin Poche. Brooks Raley pitched the eighth, working around a leadoff walk, and Pete Fairbanks pitched a perfect ninth to get his fourth save of the year. The four Rays relievers allowed just one hit.
Kansas City never had an answer for the Rays' bullpen during this four-game series. They pitched 14 1/3 and allowed just one earned run and just seven hits.
“They were tremendous,'' Cash said of his relievers. "We've really leaned heavily on the bullpen. I'd like to find a way not to do that here soon, but in the meantime, they're helping us win a lot of games.”
The Rays are now 65-55 on the season, and back to 10 games over .500. They open a four-game series with the Los Angeles Angels on Monday night at Tropicana Field. They'll play three night games and then wrap up the series with an afternoon game on Thursday. (See schedule below)
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Tom Brew is the publisher of Inside The Rays, and has been with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation network for three years. He is an award-winning writer and editor who has spent most of his four-decade career at the Tampa Bay Times, Indianapolis Star and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He has written four books.