ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Last in the majors in home runs last season, the Cleveland Guardians are showing their power resurgence.
José Ramírez started a run of three straight homers in the fourth inning of Friday night's 10-4 win against the Los Angeles Angels as the Guardians became the first team in the majors this season to go back-to-back-to-back.
On the next pitch, Josh Naylor chased Patrick Sandoval with a drive into the bleachers in right-center for his 13th of the season, which is tied for seventh.
Jose Suarez came in for Sandoval. But two pitches in, David Fry drove a fastball into the Guardians’ bullpen in left field. The three homers came in the span of four pitches.
The homer onslaught came with two outs and extended the Guardians' lead to 9-2.
“It's a unique emotion. It's very fun for the team and I'm glad we got to share in that,” Ramírez said through an interpreter after Cleveland won 10-4 to extend its winning streak to seven.
With four homers on the night, Cleveland has 58 on the season, tied for ninth in MLB. They had 124 all of last season.
“Val (hitting coach Chris Valaika) and the hitting group challenged our guys starting over the winter on impacting the ball more, taking your shots and knowing what pitches you can drive,” manager Stephen Vogt said. “It's OK to swing and miss early in the count. Our guys have responded and taken pride in that. And fortunately we're hitting some homers.”
After Andrés Giménez got aboard with a base hit, Ramírez followed with a two-run shot to center for his second homer of the game. It was the 24th multihomer game of Ramírez's career and first since last July.
The homer was Ramírez's 14th of the season, tied for fifth in the majors. With four RBIs in the first four innings, he moved past Atlanta's Marcell Ozuna for the MLB lead with 49.
“It's a combination of having a good plan, being able to execute and getting the results. That's what's working for me right now,” Ramírez said.
It's the first time Cleveland has had three straight homers since June 18, 2019, at Texas.
“It's pretty cool. Everyone in the dugout was fired up,” Fry said. “Let's have another good at-bat and luckily I snuck it inside the bullpen.”
Coincidentally, the Angels were also the last team to allow a team to go deep three straight times. The Texas Rangers had three straight solo shots against the Halos on Sept. 25, 2023.
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Cleveland Guardians' Josh Naylor, right, rounds third as Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Patrick Sandoval stands on the mound during the fourth inning of a baseball game Friday, May 24, 2024, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Cleveland Guardians' Jose Ramirez, right, is congratulated by Andres Gimenez after hitting a two-run home run as Los Angeles Angels catcher Logan O'Hoppe kneels at the plate during the third inning of a baseball game Friday, May 24, 2024, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Cleveland Guardians' Jose Ramirez is congratulated by teammates in the dugout after hitting a two-run home run during the third inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels Friday, May 24, 2024, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Cleveland Guardians' Jose Ramirez, center, is congratulated by Andres Gimenez, left, after hitting a two-run home run as Los Angeles Angels catcher Logan O'Hoppe kneels at the plate during the fourth inning of a baseball game Friday, May 24, 2024, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign is spending $50 million through the end of June, a blitz that includes its first television ad trumpeting Donald Trump’s felony conviction and signals that the Democratic incumbent is seeking to make his Republican opponent’s legal woes a bigger issue heading into November.
The advertising push comes with Election Day still more than five months away. But Biden's campaign says it wants to more clearly define the choice between the candidates ahead of the first debate between them in Atlanta on June 27.
The ad campaign includes more than $1 million geared toward media reaching Black, Hispanic and Asian American voters and a spot highlighting Trump's conviction on 34 felony counts in a New York hush money case. It will air on general market television and connected TV on streaming devices and cellphones in battleground states as well as on national cable.
Besides Trump's criminal conviction, the ad, titled “Character Matters,” notes the former president also was found liable for sexual assault and financial fraud in separate proceedings. Trump also faces felony charges in three other criminal cases, none of which may go to trial before the November election.
“This election is between a convicted criminal who's only out for himself and a president who's fighting for your family,” intones the ad's narrator over images of a Trump mug shot and Biden high-fiving supporters.
Biden also has frequently talked about Trump’s 34 felony convictions while decrying the former president for claiming that the case against him was politically motivated. Biden argues that “it’s reckless, it’s dangerous, it’s irresponsible for anyone to say this was rigged just because they don’t like the verdict.”
Biden's son Hunter last week was convicted in Delaware of three felony charges related to the purchase of a revolver in 2018, when, prosecutors argued, he lied on a mandatory gun purchase form by saying he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs. The president has said he would accept the outcome of the case and “continue to respect the judicial process as Hunter considers an appeal.”
A central part of Biden’s reelection strategy is also highlighting Trump’s policy proposals for a second term and firing up disaffected Democrats and independent voters. Still, the campaign producing an ad that leans heavily into Trump's conviction and including it in such a large advertising buy indicates a renewed effort to make Trump’s legal problems an election issue in ways Biden’s team previously resisted.
"It’s a stark contrast, and it’s one that matters deeply to the American people,” Biden campaign spokesman Michael Taylor said in a statement. “And it’s why we will make sure that every single day we are reminding voters about how Joe Biden is fighting for them, while Donald Trump runs a campaign focused on one man and one man only: himself.”
Trump has denied any wrongdoing and has argued, without evidence, that Biden or Justice Department officials orchestrated the New York case against him for political reasons. He and his allies also have raised the prospect of prosecuting political opponents in revenge if he returns to the White House.
Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said that the Biden administration had “weaponized the justice system against President Trump" and that the contrast between her candidate and Biden "will be very clear on the debate stage.”
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event at 180 Church, Saturday, June 15, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
From left, Maisy Biden, Naomi Biden, President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden walk to depart on Air Force One from Los Angeles International Airport, Sunday, June 16, 2024, in Los Angeles. Biden is returning to Washington after a campaign event. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Joe Biden is seated during a campaign event with former President Barack Obama moderated by Jimmy Kimmel at the Peacock Theater, Saturday, June 15, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
