Guardians Avoid Sweep as Bazzana Goes Deep With Ramirez Sidelined

Travis Bazzana didn’t just keep the Guardians from getting swept Thursday. He launched a 398-foot solo shot in the seventh inning that turned a 2-2 tie into a 4-2 win over the Brewers at American Family Field. And he did it with Cleveland’s best hitter watching from the bench.

Jose Ramirez is on the 10-day IL now, dealing with a left hamate bone fracture. That’s the kind of injury that can linger, especially for a guy who swings as hard as he does. The team hasn’t said exactly how long he’ll be out, but it’s never good when a star player goes down with a hand issue.

Bazzana, all of 23 years old, didn’t sound surprised when he talked about the win.”We’ve played a lot of close ballgames where we’ve really pitched it and not found a way to get the runs we need across,” he said, per Zach Sweet of MLB.com. “It was nice to finish a series we struggled offensively with a couple big swings and get a win.”

That’s the thing about this Guardians team right now. They pitch well enough to hang around in almost every game. But scoring has been a problem. And losing Ramirez, even if he’s not putting up his usual MVP-caliber numbers, makes that problem worse.

Ramirez’s 2026 season so far

He’s played 72 games and has 314 plate appearances. The slash line is .239/.339/.418 with 10 homers and 33 RBIs. He’s still stealing bases, 24 of them. But the power is down. The average is down. And now he’s got a broken bone in his left hand.

A seven-time All-Star and six-time Silver Slugger doesn’t just get replaced. The Guardians will have to figure out how to survive without him for at least a week and a half, maybe longer. Bazzana’s home run was a good start.

Cleveland moved to 40-30 with the win. That’s not bad for a team that’s had to grind through a lot of low-scoring games. They head to Houston next for a three-game series starting Friday at Daikin Park. The Astros are always a test, especially at home.

If the Guardians want to keep pace in the division, they’ll need more nights like Thursday. Bazzana gave them one. They’ll take it.