DETROIT — Jhonkensy Noel called his shot Thursday before hitting a solo home run in the fourth inning off Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal as the Guardians gutted out a 3-1 victory against the Tigers at Comerica Park.
All-Star third baseman José Ramírez said afterward that he tends to take the guy known as “Big Christmas” at his word when he makes predictions.
“Before the game he told (Angel) Martínez that he was going to take (Skubal) out of the park,” Ramírez said via Guardians interpreter Agustin Rivero.
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Ramírez, whose two-run blast in the seventh off Tyler Melton provided the winning runs as Cleveland swept the Tigers and pulled within 3 1/2 games of the American League Central Division leaders, said he was happy for Noel, who like Ramírez and Martínez hails from the Dominican Republic.
“I really believe some of the Latin guys when they say those things before the games,” Ramirez said. “They actually make it happen.”
Noel said the prediction was more about confidence and how the team is feeling after winning seven straight and cutting nine games off the Tigers’ lead in the division since Aug. 26.
“That’s just the way we’re rolling,” Noel said via Rivero. “That confidence is overflowing, and when we got to the ballpark today I felt that I needed to say it. I told that to Martínez, and then it happened.”
With Skubal, a 13-game winner with a second straight AL Cy Young Award in his sights, on the mound and Detroit desperate for a win, Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt put Noel in his lineup batting sixth and playing first base.
After returning to Cleveland from Triple-A Columbus at the beginning of September, Noel has played sparingly, getting most of his at-bats against left-handed starters like Skubal and coming off the bench in pinch-hitting situations late in games.
Noel had not started a game in nearly a week when he faced Chicago at Progressive Field. But he collected hits in both of his previous appearances, and greeted Skubal with a line drive single to left to open the second inning. When Skubal threw him an 0-2 changeup on the outside corner, the 6-foot-3, 250-pound slugger did what he said he would.
Noel drove the ball 411 feet over the Guardians bullpen in left center to tie the score 1-1. The rocket left Big Christmas’ bat at 106 mph according to Statcast and was his fifth of the season, giving him 12 RBIs.
Noel’s up-and-down season has featured two trips to Columbus and a 33% strikeout rate at the big league level in just 137 plate appearances entering Thursday’s game. Vogt said after Thursday’s game that he could not be happier for the 24 year old.
“That’s a huge, huge hit for us, but a huge hit for him, and I just couldn’t be more happy for Jhonkensy,” Vogt said.
When Noel returned to the big league roster at the beginning of the month, Vogt said it was made clear what his role would be for the duration of the season, and Noel accepted it.
“He said, ‘I know I’m going to play against lefties and pinch hit and I’m ready for it,’ and he’s kept himself ready,” Vogt said. “He’s working on it every day. He is studying left-handed pitchers, he’s ready to go.”
Noel said staying ready means taking the same mindset into every game and maintaining his preparation, whether he is playing in the outfield, at first base or coming off the bench.
“Whenever the manager needs me, I know I’m going to be ready,” Noel said. “Once we cross that line, we know it’s all about competition, and we’re just ready to compete.”
With Spencer Torkelson at first and nobody out in the ninth, Noel fielded a ground ball off the bat of Wenceel Perez, stepped on the bag and threw to Gabriel Arias who applied the tag on Torkelson for a nifty double play. Vogt said Noel’s athleticism allows him to feel comfortable making such a play with so much on the line.
“He made that look way more easy than it should have been,” Vogt said. “But he’s been great for us.”
Noel said turning that double play comes down to preparation.
“I try to prepare a little bit before the game, especially before those plays happen,” he said. “I try to run it through a little bit in my head and see what can happen, and I think that helps me to keep things under control.”
With the Guardians heading to Minnesota just 1 1/2 games out of a wild card spot and hot on the Tigers’ tail in the division, Noel and his teammates are plying their best baseball at the most important time, and having a blast doing so.
“It’s really fun to do it this time of the year,” Noel said. “For us it’s the same mindset. Keep doing our best until the end and see what happens.”