CLEVELAND -- As he made his way through the Guardians’ third-base dugout, high-fiving everyone in sight with the team’s ceremonial Knight’s helmet, José Ramírez’s name echoed across Progressive Field.
Ramírez’s two-run home run got the Guardians off and running on Saturday and ultimately sent them to a 2-0 win over the White Sox in Game 5 of the American League Division Series. Cleveland secured a matchup with the Rays in the AL Championship Series with a comeback for the ages.
The Guardians are the 11th team to lose the first two games of a best-of-five postseason series and then come back to win. They’re the first to do so since the 2017 Yankees, who completed the feat against Cleveland in this ballpark. The Guards are the ninth to pull off the feat in the Division Series; two teams did it in the League Championship Series, when that had a best-of-five format.
This franchise has been on the wrong side of this equation nearly a dozen times. Cleveland entered Saturday 2-9 in win-or-go-home games. The Guardians gave their fanbase a memory they won’t soon forget.