Jose Ramirez homers on birthday, Guardians complete sweep of Rangers

It should almost be expected at this point. Once September 17th rolls around, Jose Ramirez does what he does best, clobber baseballs.

For the fourth time in his major league career, Ramirez has homered on his birthday, his 24th long ball of the season. This is the most in Cleveland baseball history and is two shy of the all-time lead of six held by Alex Rodriguez and Mark Reynolds. At just 31 years old, there is the possibility that Ramirez could tie or even surpass that number by the time his career is over.

The home run from Ramirez was just the beginning of what was a massive inning for the Guardians' offense. Cleveland sent 14 men to the plate in the inning as they built a 9-1 lead that was more than enough to secure the victory.

Cleveland would total 11 hits in the contest as the nine-run 4th inning propelled the team to a 9-2 win over the Texas Rangers. The only starter to not register a hit was Cam Gallagher, who went 0-4 with two strikeouts.

The lopsided win capped off an impressive offensive performance by the Guardians. Cleveland outscored Texas 23-6, with Saturday's 2-1 affair being the closest game of the three. The other two games saw the Guardians win by lopsided margins of seven and nine runs.

Cleveland would outhit the Rangers 37-19 during the three-game set, registering at least 11 hits in each game. Sunday's contest was actually the fourth consecutive game in which the Guardians have managed double-digit hits, with their final game in San Francisco being the beginning of this streak.

The truly unfortunate thing when it comes to the current offensive output from this Guardians lineup is that it is too little too late. At 72-78, Cleveland trails the Minnesota Twins by seven games in the American League Central division, and their playoff odds stand at just 0.1%. While not technically eliminated as of yet, it is only a matter of time before their season is officially declared over.