Guardians star 3B José Ramírez breaks bone in hand during win over Tigers, All-Star out indefinitely

CLEVELAND (AP) — A nice win for the Guardians over a division rival quickly turned into a devastating loss.

Cleveland star third baseman José Ramírez broke a bone in his left hand on a swing Saturday and will be sidelined for an indefinite period, a massive blow to the two-time defending AL Central champions.

Ramírez sustained a fractured left hamate bone leading off the fifth inning in the Guardians’ 3-1 win over the Detroit Tigers. The team didn’t update the condition of the 33-year-old until after the game, when manager Stephen Vogt confirmed the break.

Vogt said Ramírez underwent imaging tests that revealed the fracture.

“He had a similar injury I think to his right hand a few years ago,” Vogt said. “He tried to go back out. He knew the position we were in, grabbed his glove and said ‘Maybe I can still play defense,’ but he couldn’t squeeze his glove. Hosey wanted to get back out there to help us win that game. He just couldn’t.”

A seven-time All-Star, Ramírez is the face of Cleveland’s franchise and the Guardians’ most indispensable player. Losing him for any time is crippling.

Surgery will likely take place in the next few days, and the Guardians, who moved back into first place, will then have to do their best to survive without their best player. They have options at third base, but none of them is close to being in Ramírez’s class.

Ramírez, who is a switch-hitter, suffered a fracture to his right hamate bone in 2019 — the only time he has been on the injured list in his career — but was only out a month following surgery after being expected to miss as much as seven weeks.

He’s been struggling at the plate so this season, and entered Saturday’s game batting just .238 with 10 homers and 33 RBIs. Ramírez, who has finished in the Top 4 in MVP voting five times, is a career .274 hitter. He holds virtually every major team record.

Ramírez wasn’t the only injury Saturday as the Guardians lost outfielders Chase DeLauter and Angel Martinez in the first two innings.

DeLauter suffered a bruised right rib cage colliding with the outfield wall Martinez sustained a bruise when he fouled a ball off his foot.

When Ramírez left the game, the Guardians were without the top three hitters in their batting order. Vogt was forced to reshuffle his lineup and put Rhys Hoskins, who began the game at first base, in left field. Hoskins had not played there since 2018, when he was with Philadelphia.

It’s not known if DeLauter and Martinez will join Ramírez on the injured list.

“We’re working through the logistics and what the next steps are so we’ll know more tomorrow or the next day,” Vogt said. “These things can get complicated.”

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Detroit manager A.J. Hinch, who has spent the season navigating through a litany of injuries, empathized with Cleveland’s situation.

“It was one after another for those guys,” Hinch said. “If there’s any team that understands having injuries at a weird time, it’s us. I didn’t see anything with Ramírez to have him come out of the game, so when Stephen (Vogt) was on the field I had no idea what it was about and they were moving their players all around.

“Obviously health is a premium. Sounds like they’ve got a lot to sort out over there.”

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb