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Brayan Rocchio lifting Guardians lineup with Jose Ramirez injured
Brayan Rocchio lifting Guardians lineup with Jose Ramirez injured
Ryan Lewis, Akron Beacon JournalFri, Jul 3, 2026·3 min readCLEVELAND — Brayan Rocchio rang the bell again.
Last season, Rocchio delivered the final blow as the Guardians clinched the divisional title on the last day of the regular season. And July 2, in a key game against the White Sox, he did it again, this time pulling the Guardians even with Chicago in the 2026 American League Central race.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBoth times — the 2025 division clincher and the 2026 division equalizer — it came with the sound of a Rocchio walk-off home run ringing off the right-field foul pole at Progressive Field.
Rocchio is in the midst of putting together the most complete season of his career, hitting .269 with a .734 OPS. He’s already accrued 2.5 fWAR after never finishing a season above 1.1 entering 2026.
“I mean, it's hard to come through in that situation. It's not a given,” said manager Stephen Vogt. “[Rocchio is] having a tremendous year and we've asked a lot of him. He was getting used to sitting in the nine hole. He knew that identity, and then obviously the injuries happened and we put him at the top of the order and now he's kind of the Swiss Army knife of the lineup.”
Guardians vs. White Sox, AL Central rivals play for first place
Jul 2, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Davis Martin (65) delivers a pitch in the first inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: (David Richard-Imagn Images)Guardians vs. White Sox, AL Central rivals play for first place
Guardians vs. White Sox, AL Central rivals play for first place
Guardians vs. White Sox, AL Central rivals play for first place
Guardians vs. White Sox, AL Central rivals play for first place
Guardians vs. White Sox, AL Central rivals play for first place
Guardians vs. White Sox, AL Central rivals play for first place
Guardians vs. White Sox, AL Central rivals play for first place
Both foul-pole-rattling home runs had impeccable timing. The Guardians and White Sox will now enter July 2 tied for the AL Central lead.
And all things considered, the Guardians would likely take being in a first-place tie as a win for the next few weeks considering they’re without star third baseman Jose Ramirez, who is arguably among MLB's top two or three most important players to his own lineup in terms of the value lost if he’s unavailable.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementVogt and several players called a recent come-from-behind win against the Seattle Mariners maybe their biggest win of the season due to a Ramirez-less lineup still doing enough to pull out a series win. That title of “best win of the year” was likely replaced with Rocchio’s walk-off winner July 2, which was aided by David Fry’s pinch-hit home run, a tremendous throw by Steven Kwan in center field and 1 2/3 innings from reliever Daniel Espino.
To look at it from the other angle, if the White Sox aren’t able to build a lead while Ramirez is sidelined for a few more weeks, it’ll be an opportunity lost in Chicago. For a major portion of the season, the Guardians lineup surviving without their star third baseman is arguably the No. 1 storyline.
“We’re fighting to the end, to the last out,” Rocchio said. “We’re going to [fight] no matter the score. We’re fighting to the last out. That’s how [we see our] identity.”
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBrayan Rocchio supports Venezuela after earthquakes
Rocchio’s home run carried a little extra significance following the devastating earthquakes that rocked Venezuela and the surrounding areas. It's no secret to anyone in the Cleveland clubhouse how it's impacted him over the last several days.
“He’s one of our leaders,” Fry said. “Obviously he’s such a good player, but he’s an unbelievable teammate and kind of what he’s talked about with us, what they’re going through over there, and he’s been huge on like, ‘Hey, we need to help them out.’ It’s not just like, ‘I’m going to mention it.’ He’s doing stuff about it, and he’s really good in the community.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“He even talked about it after the game, he was like, ‘This is for Venezuela.’ So that’s super special.”
Ryan Lewis covers the Guardians for the Akron Beacon Journal. He can be reached at rlewis1@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Brayan Rocchio lifting Guardians lineup with Jose Ramirez injured
Story byAkron Beacon Journal