Jose Ramirez hit three home runs and Brayan Rocchio had two hits and three RBIs to lead the Cleveland Guardians to an 8-6 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Friday night in Anaheim, Calif.
Ramirez hit a solo homer in the first inning and a two-run homer in the fifth, both coming off Angels starter Jose Soriano (1-1), who set a career high with nine strikeouts but allowed five runs in 5 1/3 innings.
Ramirez hit his third homer in the ninth inning off Angels reliever Caden Dana.
Rocchio’s two-out single with the bases loaded in the sixth inning drove home two runs to snap a tie and put the Guardians up for good at 6-4.
Six Cleveland relievers combined to allow two runs in six innings, both runs coming off closer Emmanuel Clase in the ninth inning. Tim Herrin (1-0) pitched a scoreless inning to get the win. Mike Trout and Logan O’Hoppe each homered for Los Angeles.
Ramirez hit his first homer in the first inning off Soriano to put Cleveland up 1-0, but Trout matched it in the bottom of the first off Guardians starter Gavin Williams to tie the game at 1-1.
The Guardians broke the 1-1 tie in the second inning after a two-out walk to Gabriel Arias and an RBI double by Rocchio for a 2-1 advantage.
Williams found trouble with a couple walks in the third inning, leading to an RBI single by Angels first baseman Nolan Schanuel. Jo Adell late added a two-out, two-run single to put the Angels in front 4-2.
Ramirez tied the game at 4-4 in the fifth inning with his second homer, a two-run blast after Soriano walked Steven Kwan with two out.
The Angels missed a chance to regain the lead in the bottom of the fifth when they loaded the bases with one out against Herrin. Herrin, though, escaped by striking out Adell and getting Kevin Newman on a fly to center.
