Another losing season is assured

CLEVELAND — Jose Ramirez hit a tiebreaking tworun homer in the eighth inning, and the Cleveland Guardians beat the Angels 5-3 on Wednesday for their sixth consecutive victory.

Oscar Gonzalez and Andres Gimenez each had three hits as AL Centralleading Cleveland (76-65) moved 11 games over .500 for the first time since September 2020. The loss guaranteed a seventh consecutive losing season for the Angels (61-82).

With Amed Rosario aboard after a leadoff single, All-Star third baseman Ramirez drove a 3-and-1 slider from Ryan Tepera (4-3) deep to right for his 27th homer.

“As long as we keep playing our way, it’s going to be fun to watch,” said Ramirez, who also leads the Guardians with 111 RBIs.

The Guardians opened a four-game lead over the Chicago White Sox, who lost 3-0 to last-place Colorado. The win streak for Cleveland matches a season high.

“Ramirez does a little bit of everything and he’s really tough to pitch to,” Angels interim manager Phil Nevin said. “That’s why I walked him two or three times in this series already, but in that situation, you can’t put the winning run on second in Rosario.”

Trevor Stephan (5-4) recorded three outs for the win, and James Karinchak worked the ninth for his third save.

Luis Rengifo led off the ninth with a double for the Angels, but Karinchak retired the next three batters.

Mickey Moniak hit a tworun homer for the Angels, and Mike Trout had an RBI single in their fourth straight loss. Shohei Ohtani went one for four with an eighth-inning double.

Before the game, the Angels announced that shortstop Andrew Velazquez (right knee) will miss the remainder of the season after tearing meniscus in his right knee Tuesday while fielding a grounder.

Velazquez was put on the 10-day injured list and will require surgery.