Ramirez Haunts Cole Again as Guardians Edge Yankees, 5–4

by John Nielsen

June 4, 2026

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Rhys Hoskins homered and drove in three runs, while Jose Ramirez and Kyle Manzardo each collected three hits and a home run as the Cleveland Guardians defeated the New York Yankees, 5–4, Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium.

The victory gave Cleveland its second consecutive win over New York and secured the three-game series, with the finale scheduled for this afternoon in the Bronx.

The Guardians improved to 36–27 and extended their lead over the Chicago White Sox to 2.5 games in the AL Central. The Yankees fell to 36–25 and remained one game behind Tampa Bay in the AL East. Cleveland also strengthened its claim as the American League's top road team at 19–13, edging New York's 19–14 mark.

What appeared on paper to be a marquee pitching matchup between Gerrit Cole and Gavin Williams never quite developed into the anticipated duel.

Cole (1–1), making just his third start of the season, surrendered his first runs of 2026. Manzardo opened the scoring in the second inning with a 370-foot home run into the right-field grandstand, his seventh of the season.

The Yankees answered immediately when Jazz Chisholm Jr. launched a 409-foot blast into the second deck in right field off Williams (9–3), tying the game at 1–1 and punctuating the moment with one of his trademark bat flips.

Cleveland regained the lead in the fourth when Hoskins connected on a two-run shot to left field, his sixth of the season, putting the Guardians ahead 3–1.

New York responded in the bottom half. Jose Caballero's towering fly barely cleared the left-field wall and the glove of a leaping Angel Martinez. The play triggered an umpire-initiated review for possible fan interference, but the call stood, and Caballero's fifth home run of the year trimmed the deficit to 3–2.

Both starters escaped the fifth inning unscathed, but neither would survive the sixth.

J-Ram, long a thorn in Cole's side, struck again with a solo home run to the left of the right-field foul pole, his ninth of the season, extending Cleveland's lead to 4–2. After a single by Manzardo and a walk to Hoskins, Cole's evening came to an end.

Cole's final line: 5.1 innings, six hits, four earned runs, one walk, and two strikeouts. His fastball topped out at 97 mph—slightly below his previous outing—but he continued to build stamina, reaching 83 pitches after throwing 72 and 78 pitches in his first two starts. Still, it was a marked step back from the dominant 10-strikeout performance over 6 2/3 innings he delivered against Kansas City a week ago.

Ramirez's latest success was hardly surprising. The Cleveland star is now 14-for-39 with three home runs against Cole in his career and owns a .330 batting average with 14 career home runs against the Yankees.

New York answered with a run in the bottom of the sixth. Ben Rice doubled down the right-field line and advanced to third on Paul Goldschmidt's fly out to Steven Kwan in the right-centerfield gap. After Williams exited, Cody Bellinger lifted a sacrifice fly to medium center field off Tim Herrin. Kwan's throw airmailed the plate, allowing an aggressive Rice to score easily and cut the deficit to 4–3.

Williams, who leads the American League in victories and strikeouts, threw 96 pitches over 5 1/3 innings, allowing four hits, three earned rns, walking one and striking out six.

The Guardians added an important insurance run in the eighth. Ramirez singled and Manzardo doubled against Tim Hill before Hoskins drove home Ramirez with a sacrifice fly off Paul Blackburn, making it 5–3.

Cleveland's bullpen then did its job. Colin Holderman tossed a scoreless seventh inning, and Hunter Gaddis worked a scoreless eighth.

Looking for his 18th consecutive save conversion, Cade Smith entered the ninth with a two-run lead. Goldschmidt led off with a double into the left-field corner, and a wild pitch followed by Bellinger's second sacrifice fly of the night brought the Yankees within one run.

Smith regrouped, however, striking out Chisholm before Caballero popped out to shortstop Brayan Rocchio to end the game and secure Smith's 21st save of the season.

Game Notes

• Cleveland improved to 10–7 in one-run games and 15–12 against teams with winning records. The Yankees fell to 6–12 in one-run contests and just 3–10 against winning clubs.

• Those numbers continue to highlight two of New York's biggest concerns in 2026: bullpen reliability and offensive lineup depth. The Yankees possess one of baseball's strongest rotations, but too often the bullpen and lower half of the lineup have failed to provide enough support. Seemingly, the Yankees need to add a couple of reliable relievers and another consistent bat - either a left-side infielder or a catcher.

• The bottom third of the Yankees' lineup—Ryan McMahon, Austin Wells, and Anthony Volpe—combined to go 0-for-9 with three strikeouts. With Aaron Judge absent, New York needs more production from that group.

• Speaking of Judge, the Yankees announced that the reigning AL MVP will undergo additional imaging on his sore right rib cage, Thursday. Manager Aaron Boone did not rule out a stint for the Captain on the injured list. Judge has struggled since May 11, batting just .206 (14-for-68) with one home run.

• The Yankees will send Carlos Rodón (1–2, 3.32 ERA) to the mound Thursday afternoon against Cleveland's Slade Cecconi (3–5, 5.25 ERA).

After hosting Boston this weekend, New York will see the Guardians again early next week in Cleveland.