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Ramirez powers Guardians
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Jose Ramirez hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the fifth, Shane Bieber struck out eight in seven innings and the Cleveland Guardians beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-1 on Friday night.
Ramirez’s 21st homer, a drive off Jeffrey Springs (3-3), gave Cleveland a 3-1 lead. Ramirez added a two-out RBI single in the eighth after Steven Kwan’s third single.
Bieber (5-6) iis just 2-3 in nine starts since June 3. He needed 26 pitches in the first, when Ji-Man Choi hit a run-scoring single. The Rays stranded the bases loaded when Christian Bethancourt struck out.
Emmanuel Clase pitched the ninth for his 22nd save in 24 chances, getting Bethancourt to ground into a game-ending double play. The Guardians won for the third time in four games.
Tampa Bay has lost six of seven and leads Cleveland by 3 1/2 games for the AL’s third wild card. The homestand opener drew just 14,671,
Bieber, who has pitched six innings or more in 11 of his last 13 starts, gave up one run and five hits.
Springs allowed three runs and six hits in five innings.
Jaelene Daniels refuses gay pride jersey
CARY, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina defender Jaelene Daniels sat out the Courage’s National Women’s Soccer League game Friday night against the Washington Spirit after refusing to wear a gay pride jersey.
“While we’re disappointed with her choice, we respect her right to make that decision for herself,” a Courage spokeswoman said in a statement.
In 2017, Daniels refused a U.S. national team call-up because of a gay-pride jersey.
Pirates fall in extras
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Rhys Hoskins drilled a go-ahead two-run homer in the top of the 10th to lift the Philadelphia Phillies past the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-2 on Friday night.
Hoskins finished off a four-hit night by taking the first pitch he saw from Duane Underwood Jr. (0-3) and sending it to the grassy area beyond the center field wall for his 20th home run of the season to give the Phillies their third straight victory.
Nick Castellanos, Alec Bohm and Matt Vierling had two hits apiece for Philadelphia. Seranthony Dominguez (5-3) retired the Pirates in order to force extra innings and Connor Brogdon worked a perfect bottom of the 10th to pick up his first career save.
Ke’Bryan Hayes hit his fifth home run of the season for Pittsburgh and collected his third three-hit game this month, but the Pirates’ bullpen faltered late to send the club to its fifth consecutive loss.
Pittsburgh led 2-0 heading into the seventh before the Phillies rallied. Kyle Schwarber cut the lead in half with a two-out RBI single off Pirates reliever Manny Banuelos, and Hoskins tied it with an RBI single of his own off Wil Crowe.
Pittsburgh starter Jose Quintana worked 5 2/3 scoreless innings in his final appearance before next week’s trade deadline. The 33-year-old, who signed a one-year deal with the Pirates last fall, allowed four hits with two walks and four strikeouts while lowering his ERA to 3.50 in his return to the rotation after spending most of last season as a reliever for the Los Angeles Angels and San Francisco Giants.
Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton has praised Quintana’s impact on an extremely inexperienced pitching staff, though the left-hander’s time with the club figures to be short. He’s resurrected his career over the last four months and will likely generate a fair amount of interest on the trade market.
Philadelphia’s Bailey Falter worked six innings in the longest start of his young career. He surrendered an RBI double to Allen in the third and Hayes’ home run that just cleared the fence in right field in the sixth. Falter struck out a career-best eight against one walk.
“BIG BEN” TO BEDNAR
Retired Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw out the first pitch as part of the Pirates’ “Yinzerpalooza” celebration of all things Pittsburgh.
Roethlisberger, who played 18 seasons for the Steelers before walking away in January, lobbed a strike to Pirates All-Star closer and city native David Bednar.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Phillies: Infielder Jean Segura (broken right index finger) served as the designated hitter for Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Friday and could play all nine innings defensively on Saturday. The 32-year-old, who has been out since getting hurt on May 31, is eligible to come off the 60-day injured list on Sunday.
UP NEXT
The series continues on Saturday when Philadelphia’s Ranger Suarez (7-5, 3.84 ERA) faces Mitch Keller (3-7, 4.55). Keller has allowed three or fewer runs in eight of his last 10 starts.
