Dodgers News: Ramirez Sensed Opportunity To Deliver Win
After being on the field for over four hours and playing in a steady rain for the last few innings, Hanley Ramirez rescued the Dodgers with his first career walk-off home run. Dee Gordon was the the first to make progress towards putting Ramirez in position to win the game by smacking a two-out single to center.
That brought Justin Turner to the plate, who drew a walk after Gordon stole second base. Ramirez discussed what he saw in Turner’s at-bat while standing in the on-deck circle and the approach he took, via an AP report on EPSN:
I was watching the way they were pitching to J.T., and it didn’t look like they wanted to pitch to him. They wanted me,” Ramirez said. “So I told myself to just slow my swing down because I had to come through. He made a mistake up and left something over plate, and I made a good swing. That’s what we’re here for — to win games.”
The home run was Ramirez’s 12th this season and first since June 17. It’s been an injury-plagued year for the shortstop, who is in the final year of his contract. Heading into 2014, Ramirez had positioned himself for a multiyear deal that likely would have been well north of $100 million.
With Ramirez’s inability to remain healthy, that no longer appears a given but rather doubtful. Despite coming up with the winning hit, Ramirez pointed to the team’s success and not his.
The 30 year old is 4-for-9 with four RBIs through the first two games against the Cubs after going 0-for-11 in the three-game series with the Atlanta Braves. Ramirez is now hitting .276 to go with a .832 OPS and 56 RBIs this season.
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