The Opener: Ramirez Milestone, Braves Clinch, Quintana Back

With rain in the forecast, tonight’s Tigers vs. White Sox matchup has been moved up. The game will now start at 1:10 pm CT instead of 6:10 pm CT (h/t Chris McCoskey of the Detroit News). 1. Ramirez reaches 1,000 RBI Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez drilled a solo homer to extend Cleveland’s lead in the sixth inning on Friday. The blast gave him exactly 1,000 RBI for his career. Ramirez is the 12th active player to reach the threshold. The veteran may be heating up with back-to-back two-hit games. Ramirez has struggled mightily since coming back from a broken hamate bone. He’s posted a .567 OPS over 45 games. Ramirez has the seventh-lowest wRC+ among qualified hitters since his return. 2. Braves lock up NL East Atlanta secured the division crown with a win over Houston on Friday. The Braves launched three home runs in the victory, including No. 40 for first baseman Matt Olson. Right-hander Tyler Mahle delivered six strong innings. The former Giant has now recorded seven quality starts in eight appearances with the Braves. “I remember when he got traded, people were like, ‘What are we doing?’” utilityman Mauricio Dubón told reporters (h/t Mark Bowman of MLB.com). “Now he’s one of the best pitchers. He’s been lights out.” 3. Quintana to start on Saturday The Rockies are expected to activate lefty Jose Quintana to face the Mariners tonight, per Thomas Harding of MLB.com. The veteran has been out since May with an elbow sprain. Quintana came aboard on a one-year, $6MM deal to eat some innings for a young rotation. He’s been limited to nine starts due to hamstring and elbow issues. Quintana has a 5.27 ERA across 41 innings. Photo courtesy of David Richard, Imagn Images View Comments (0)