Cleveland's José Ramírez becomes first third baseman with 250 career homers and steals

CLEVELAND — José Ramírez picked the perfect opportunity to join another exclusive baseball club.

Cleveland's six-time All-Star became the first primary third baseman in history to reach 250 career homers and 250 stolen bases during the 10th inning of the Guardians 4-3 victory against the Minnesota Twins.

''At that moment, the last thing you're thinking is any milestones or personal records,'' Ramirez said through an interpreter. ''To me it was where we had the chance to get running, obviously get in a position where I can score with a base hit given the situation of the game.''

Ramírez, who has 260 homers, got his 250th steal with one out in the 10th inning after he got aboard with an RBI base hit. The 32-year old native of the Dominican Republic is the 24th player to accomplish the feat, and the only active one in the majors.

He is also the first Cleveland player reach 250-250 and just the second switch-hitter, joining Carlos Beltrán (435 homers, 312 stolen bases).

''It's a testament to hard work for a really long time and being really, really good for a long time,'' manager Stephen Vogt said. ''He came through big with the hit and then he gets the stolen base in the milestone and scores a winning run as well. He should have. He just continues to get accolade after accolade and I really enjoy watching it.''

After Kyle Manzardo got aboard on an intentional walk, Ramírez acknowledged the small crowd still at Progressive Field after two rain delays totaling 2 hours, 23 minutes, and pointed at the scoreboard when it showed he had reached the milestone.

''It was a good moment, but especially seeing all the guys on the dugout trying to cheer me up and chanting my name. So that's kind of like something that make me smile,'' he said.

Ramírez then scored the game-winning run on Angel Martinez's single. He also made sure he got the base to add to his collection, saying he would add it to the three other bases he has marking other accomplishments.

Ramírez dazzles his teammates on an almost daily basis, so it's not a surprise to them that he's added his name to another elite list.

''He's a guy that leads by example,'' catcher Bo Naylor said. "He goes out there, plays his hardest, and when you see one of the leaders on your team doing that, there's no excuse for you to not be able to do that. He takes on that role himself and just does such a good job of keeping all of us accountable without making his voice heard in a way.

''He's one of the guys that makes this whole team go and every accomplishment that he's had come along the way, it's been super awesome to be able to witness it one and be able to celebrate it with him afterward.''

Along with the other milestones, Ramírez joins Robin Yount, Craig Biggio and Derek Jeter as the only players to accomplish the 250-250 feat with only one team.

''Milestones are important, but for me the really important part is to keep playing and trying to win,'' said Ramirez, who made his big-league debut in 2013 ''Winning is the most important thing for me and I feel still young. I feel like I can still continue doing this and hopefully we can continue adding up.''

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Freelancer Tom Withers contributed to this story.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb