Guardians beat Tigers but lose three players to injury, including Jose Ramirez

CLEVELAND — Rhys Hoskins was forced to play left field Saturday for the first time since 2018, misplaying a ball into a triple the moment he got there. After the game, he joked with reporters, "Do you guys feel lucky you got to see that?" It provided a light moment on an otherwise dark day for the Guardians — even with a 3-1 victory over Tarik Skubal and the Tigers in front of a near-capacity crowd at Progressive Field. Cleveland beat its chief Central Division rival but lost the top three hitters in the lineup to injuries, including the team's undisputed best player, seven-time All-Star Jose Ramirez. Manager Stephen Vogt said X-rays confirmed Ramirez suffered a hamate bone fracture in the left wrist. "He had a similar injury to his right hand a few years ago," Vogt said. "He tried to go back out. He knew the position we were in, grabbed his glove, he said 'maybe I can still play defense,' but he couldn't squeeze his glove. Hosey wanted to get back out there to help us win that game. He just couldn't." Vogt was asked if Ramirez, who sustained the injury when he fouled out to the catcher to lead off the fifth inning, was headed to the injured list. "We're still talking through everything, but that's likely the case," he said. "We're working through the logistics and what the next steps are, so we'll know more (Sunday) or the next day. These things can get complicated." Ramirez had surgery on the right hamate bone in 2019 and was expected to miss five-to-seven weeks but made it back in a month. Prior to Ramirez's departure, Angel Martinez and Chase DeLauter left after sustaining injuries in the first inning. The oft-injured DeLauter departed with a right rib cage contusion after recording the first hit off Skubal in the bottom of the first, but he was hurt running into the wall on a leadoff double from Gleyber Torres on Joey Cantillo's first pitch of the game. Martinez fouled Skubal's first pitch off his left foot but remained in the game until the top of the third before leaving with a contusion. X-rays were negative on Martinez, and Vogt said DeLauter would undergo an MRI on Saturday night. The injuries wreaked havoc on the lineup, forcing players into the game from the bench and multiple position changes, including Hoskins moving from first to the outfield. "That was a wild start to the game," Vogt said. "No one got sped up. Everyone was ready with whatever we needed. These guys stepped up in a huge way on a day that we needed them to." Cantillo was one of them. The left-hander allowed six hits over the first three innings, but only one run on Dylan Dingler's two-out single to score Torres in the first. After allowing consecutive singles to start the third, he retired nine straight to end his five-inning outing. Cantillo outpitched Skubal, whom the Guardians got to for three runs (two earned) over 4 2/3 innings in the left-hander's return from elbow surgery. The two earned runs came on a third-inning home run from Daniel Schneemann, who replaced DeLauter. Schneemann was one of five players who played multiple positions for Cleveland, which surrendered the designated hitter to move David Fry to left to replace Hoskins. Had the Tigers tied the game or taken the lead in the ninth, closer Cade Smith was scheduled to bat in the cleanup spot in the bottom of the inning. "I'll be dead honest, today is about the most sped up I've felt, with everything that happened," Vogt said. "Right in the middle of a pitching change, it turns into a bullpen game in the sixth. There was a lot going on." The Guardians were put in the strange position of trying to find a silver lining in a win. "Obviously, we've got a couple guys banged up," Cantillo said. "Schneemann coming off the bench and doing that, that was awesome. It's a huge win. Obviously, to go ahead and win the series against this team is huge, especially with how we finished up the last couple series prior. It's big and obviously we want to shoot for consistency. We understand it's a long season." "It's just the next man up. We've got to do what we've got to do each day to win a game," Hoskins said. "I think, especially against a rival, the guy who was on the mound today … it's a little sweeter to beat that guy. It was a complete effort today from everybody." While Ramirez is sidelined, the Guardians are going to need a lot more of them. Contact Chris Assenheimer at (440) 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him @CAwesomeheimer on X.