Ramirez to undergo surgery
CLEVELAND — Jose Ramirez swung and felt something crack.
It was a bone in his right hand. It may as well have been Indians’ postseason hopes.
Ryan O’Hearn led off the 10th inning with his second homer of the game, sending the Royals to a wild 9-8 win Sunday over the Indians, whose playoff chances were severely rocked by losing Ramirez to a broken right hand.
Losing the game was secondary to the Indians, who will be without Ramirez as they try to catch the Twins in the AL Central or win a wild card. The two-time All-Star will undergo surgery Monday in New York to repair a hamate bone he fractured Saturday night.
The Indians, who have dealt with major injuries all season, won’t know how long Ramirez will be out until after the procedure. But they know he won’t be at third base or batting fifth for the next few weeks — and perhaps the remainder of the season.
“We’ve got to deal with it,” starter Shane Bieber said. “It’s a big blow. We’re not really faced with a choice, it’s just next man up.”
Ramirez, who awakened from a puzzling, early-season offensive slump in time to propel the Indians back into postseason contention, feared the worst when he was forced to leave Saturday’s game in the first inning.
“You still try to stay optimistic and see if they can tell you better news,” he said through a translator.
“But I knew something was bad when it happened.”
Josh Donaldson hit two more HRs against the Mets, former Cy Young winner Dallas Keuchel pitched his best game of the season and the Braves won 2-1 in New York for their eighth straight victory. Braves relievers set a team record by extending their string to 25 scoreless innings before the Mets got a run in the ninth. The NL East leaders completed a three-game sweep and matched their longest winning streak of the season. Keuchel (5-5) allowed four hits in seven innings, striking out seven and walking three. Aday after hitting his 30th HR, Donaldson lofted hit his ninth long ball against the Mets this season. He tied Hank Aaron’s club mark for most HRsin a year against the Mets. Aaron did it against the expansion club in 1962.
Anthony Rendon homered and had four hits, including an RBI single in the 11th, and the Nationals beat the Cubs 7-5 in Chicago for their fifth straight win. Stephen Strasburg struck out 10 in six innings, helping the Nats finish off their first sweep of the Cubs since September 2012. The Cubs played without 1B Anthony Rizzo, who was sidelined by tightness in his back.
Jose Altuve homered to cap a sevenrun eighth, Framber Valdez gave up just one run and two hits in six innings and the Astros beat the Angels 11-2 in Houston. Alex Bregman, Abraham Toro, Josh Reddick and Altuve all drove in runs in the eighth. Altuve’s HR was his 24th, tying a career high. The Astros have won seven of their last eight.
C.J. Cron and Jonathan Schoop homered, Martin Perez pitched six solid innings and the Twins beat the last-place Tigers 7-4 in Minneapolis. The Twins increased their AL Central lead to 31⁄ games
2 over the second-place Indians. Perez (9-5) allowed two runs and five hits for his first victory since July 5. Tigers starter Matthew Boyd (6-10) gave up just four hits but was tagged for seven runs in six innings.
Matt Carpenter had a HR and three hits, Dexter Fowler drove in three runs and the Cardinals cruised to an 11-4 victory over the Rockies in St. Louis. The Cards have won seven of eight and 13 of 16 and swept the four-game series by a combined score of 31-12. Lane Thomas added a pinch-hit HR in the seventh for the Cards, who moved 21⁄ games ahead of
2 the second-place Cubs in the NL Central.
The Pirates scored eight runs in three innings off Reds starter Trevor Bauer and held on for a 9-8 victory in Pittsburgh and sweep the threegame series. It was the Pirates’ first sweep since they took three from the Padres on June 21-23.
Reynaldo Lopez pitched five no-hit innings before leaving with dehydration and flu-like symptoms, and the White Sox went on to beat the Rangers 2-0 in Chicago. Aaron Bummer replaced Lopez to start the sixth. The first batter he faced, Shin-Soo Choo, lined a single to left on a 1-0 pitch for the Rangers’ only hit. Jose Abreu drove in both White Sox runs to reach 100 RBIs for the fifth time in six seasons.