The Buzz — Wednesday, August 26

José Ramírez

The take Ramírez three doubles five RBIs fuel Guardians 10-inning comeback

Two extra-base hits in 26 games — that is what José Ramírez had managed since returning from left hamate surgery on July 22, slashing .226/.321/.247 while the hand healed. Then Tuesday night gave him three doubles and five RBIs in a single game, including the tying run in the eighth and the two-run double in the 10th that put Cleveland ahead 8-6 for good.

The Guardians came back from a five-run deficit for their sixth straight win, and the man at the center of it was the one who had been quiet since July. Hamate surgery costs a hitter the snap in his wrists, and 26 games of .226 batting is what the recovery looks like before the hand catches up. Three doubles in a late-season rally is the sound of it arriving — and the timing is what makes it matter past one night.

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Cal Raleigh

The take Raleigh 3-HR night then four straight ABs HR record

The franchise record is four consecutive at-bats with a home run, last held by Mike Cameron in 2002, and Cal Raleigh now shares it. He hit three on Monday to raise his average from .159 to .167, then led off the second inning Tuesday with a 362-foot shot off Aaron Nola for No. 18. The last Seattle player with four homers across two consecutive games was Kenji Johjima in 2006.

The crowd is right that the record is the record. But a .167 average with 18 home runs in late August, a year after 60 homers and 125 RBIs as the AL MVP runner-up, is the season talking louder than any two-game burst. The walk followed by a sixth-inning strikeout says where the power meets the grind. The season line is the louder signal, and a franchise record does not turn it down.

Cal Raleigh cards on eBay →(paid link)

Shane Bieber

The take Bieber to IL with shoulder, Jays playoff hopes dented

The timing is the wound. Shane Bieber had just given the Jays his best start of the season — seven innings of one-run ball with seven strikeouts against the Rays, 13 innings and two earned across his last two, one run in three of his last four. The shoulder did not blow up in a game; it tightened during a Sunday bullpen session in New York, and the MRI confirmed right teres major inflammation. He is on the 15-day IL retroactive to August 21, and the Blue Jays entered Tuesday at 64-68, two games out of the wild-card spot.

Manager John Schneider called it moderate to mild — the muscle is inflamed, not torn, and the club hopes Bieber can pitch again this season. But a couple of weeks without throwing means Bieber starts from zero in September, and the pitcher who returns will not be the one who was just at his best.

The rotation was already in pieces — multiple starters on the IL for the year, bullpen games already on the schedule, Chad Dallas recalled from Triple-A. What the Jays lost is the one starter who was getting better as the season narrowed. The shoulder is mild. The situation is not.

Shane Bieber cards on eBay →(paid link)

Oneil Cruz

The take Cruz's clutch ninth-inning HR off Miller wins 1-0

A 1-0 win at Petco Park, decided by a two-out ninth-inning home run off a closer who had not allowed one in 73 consecutive appearances. Oneil Cruz, activated from the 60-day IL after non-displaced fractures in his left hand sliding home in early June, broke that streak with a 111.8 mph drive off Mason Miller's 98.2 mph changeup — 379 feet to right for his 17th of the season. The power is back, and a hand broken in June is no longer the story.

Oneil Cruz cards on eBay →(paid link)

Yainer Diaz

The take Diaz hit two homers in Astros' win over Yankees

Ten home runs on the year is not a power hitter's line. What Tuesday gave the Astros was the one swing they needed — a solo shot to the short porch in right field in the eighth inning that tied the score 6-6 and started the three-run rally that put Houston ahead for good in a 9-7 win at Yankee Stadium.

The Astros moved back into first place in the AL West on the strength of a catcher's first multi-homer game of the year — his 9th and 10th home runs, 3-for-4 with a walk and three runs scored. One game does not rewrite a season, but the one that puts you back in first is the one that matters.

Yainer Diaz cards on eBay →(paid link)