KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Home runs by José Ramírez and Jhonkensy Noel helped the Guardians snap their three-game losing streak by beating the Royals 7-2 Saturday.
Cleveland has not lost four in a row this season in rolling to the top of the American League Central Division. The Guardians are 52-29 and lead the Twins in the AL Central by 7.5 games. The Royals (46-39) are 8 games back after having their three-game win streak snapped.
Josh Naylor's RBI double in the first gave Cleveland a quick lead before Kansas City hit solo home runs in the first and second innings to put the Royals ahead.
But those were the only runs allowed by Guardians starter Tanner Bibee, who worked six innings overall and allowed just four hits with three strikeouts and no walks. Bibee (7-2) threw 50 pitches over the first two innings, as the Royals fouled off 19 pitches to drive up his pitch count, before settling in.
The Guardians bullpen took over and four relievers combined to work three scoreless innings, striking out seven.
Noel's two-run homer in the fourth put Cleveland ahead for good. The rookie has two home runs in nine at-bats in his first week with the Guardians after starring in Triple-A Columbus.
Noel pulled a Cole Ragans slider to left for his two-run homer, a scorching shot down the line. Noel's high drive appeared to go foul, but was called a home run on the field and after a crew chief review, the call was allowed to stand for a 3-2 Guardians lead.
The Guardians added three runs in the fifth, including RBI doubles by Ramirez and Naylor.
Naylor has 60 RBIs this season after going 2-for-4 with two RBIs Saturday. He snapped an 0-for-13 slide with his first-inning double, ripping a 3-0 fastball into the right-field corner.
Ramirez blasted a solo homer into the left-field bullpen in the seventh to close out the scoring. His 23 home runs rank fourth in baseball and his 74 RBIs rank second.
Ramirez joined Naylor, Steven Kwan and Andrés Giménez in totaling two hits Saturday. Giménez had an RBI single in Cleveland's three-run fifth and he scored on Noel's homer an inning earlier.
Vinnie Pasquantino and Michael Massey accounted for KC's runs with their solo homers. Massey and Pasquantino each collected two of Kansas City's six hits.
Pasquantino has four extra-base hits — three for home runs — while hitting .348 with eight RBIs in the first six games of the Royals' current 10-game homestand.
In his shortest outing since April 20, Ragans (5-6) threw 4 2/3 innings, allowing five runs — his most since May 11 — on six hits with one walk and six strikeouts.
Bo Jackson enters Royals Hall of Fame
During Saturday's pregame, 61-year-old Bo Jackson was inducted into the Royals Hall of Fame. Jackson was a two-sport star, making an MLB All-Star Game and an NFL Pro Bowl before a hip injury ended his football career and limited his baseball career. Baseball Hall of Famer and Royals legend George Brett, who played alongside Jackson in Kansas City, was among those on hand to celebrate Jackson's baseball legacy in Kansas City.
Jackson totaled 109 home runs, 81 steals and 313 RBIs in 511 career games with the Royals over the course of five seasons (1986-90). He hit .250 for the Royals with a .480 slugging percentage, finishing in the top 10 in the American League in home runs three times.
He was the MVP of the 1989 All-Star Game when he homered and a stole base in an AL win. The '89 season was Jackson's best in MLB, as he hit .256 with 32 homers, 105 RBIs and 26 steals in a career-high 135 games for the Royals. Later that year, he ran for 950 yards (5.5 average) for the Raiders.
A year later, Jackson made the Pro Bowl as a Raiders running back who averaged 5.6 yards per carry in gaining 698 yards. He suffered his hip injury in the 1990 NFL playoffs. In his four-year NFL career, he had the league's longest run for a season three times — ripping off runs of 91, 92 and 88 yards in the 1987, 1989 and 1990 seasons, respectively.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Bo Knows Guardians: Cleveland beats Royals on day home team honors Bo Jackson
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