CHICAGO – Reliever of St. Louis Cardinals Roel Ramirez became the first pitcher to allow four straight home games in his Premier League debut when the Chicago White Sox beat him in the fifth inning Sunday.
Yoan Moncada, Yasmani Grandal, Jose Abreu and Eloy Jimenez connected during a six-run inning, tying the record of the big league for consecutive homers.
Ramirez took the mound in the fifth with St. Louis 1-0. He knocked Luis Robert out to start, but things went fast to the south. After two singles, a stealing steal and a walk, Moncada hit a three-run homer to the right.
Grandal followed with another ride to the seats on the right field, and then Abreu and Jimenez each homered to the left.
Manager Mike Shildt replaced Ramirez with Seth Elledge, and he knocked out Edwin Encarnacion on three straight lanes to finish the inning.
Ramirez is one of the players promoted by the Cardinals after a COVID-19 outbreak that stopped St Louis’ season for 2 weeks. The club returned to action on Saturday with a double whip over Chicago.
Ramirez, a 25-year-old right-hander, split last season between Double-A and Triple-A.
It was the 10th time in the history of the premiership that a team beat four straight homers. The only other time the White Sox did that was on August 14, 2008, against Kansas City, when Jim Thome, Paul Konerko, Alexei Ramirez and Juan Uribe joined.
The White Sox went on to defeat the Cardinals 7-2 on Sunday.
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