CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Brewers came into this three-game series against the Guardians as the fastest team on turf with an MLB-leading 52 stolen bases. They spent Monday night eating Jose Ramirez’s dust.

Ramirez tied a career high with three steals to help create four of the five runs the Guardians scored in a 5-0 victory over the Brewers at Progressive Field. The Guardians have won nine of their last 13 games.

On a more worrisome note, Guardians starter Ben Lively left the game after three innings with tightness in his right forearm.

The Guardians took a 3-0 lead in the fourth and Ramirez flipped the switch.

He singled with one out off Milwaukee starter Freddy Peralta (1-3, 2.66). Ramirez, with Carlos Santana batting, stole second and third before Santana walked. Peralta struck out Kyle Manzardo, but Bo Naylor kept the inning going with a walk to load the bases.

Gabriel Arias cleared the bases with a double over the head of center fielder Jackson Chourio, who did not take the best of routes on a ball that carried farther than he expected. The double ended an 0 for 11 skid for Arias, whose 19 RBI are four more than he had in 53 games for the Guards last year.

Ramirez’s two steals gave him 254 for his career. It tied him with Terry Turner for third place in franchise history. Turner played for Cleveland from 1904 through 1918. Kenny Lofton is the franchise leader with 452 steals.

The tie did not last long.

Ramirez walked to start the sixth. He took second on a wild pitch and stole third for his 255th steal to put him all alone in third place behind Lofton and Omar Vizquel (279).

Manzardo made Ramirez’s footwork count as he blooped a single into center field for a 4-0 lead off Peralta. It gave Manzardo a team-high 23 RBI.

Lively left the game after taking the mound in the fourth in a scoreless game. The Guardians said that he experienced tightness in his right forearm.

Jakob Junis (1-1), after throwing as many pitches as he needed to get ready, replaced Lively and retired the first two batters. The Brewers, however, proceeded to load the bases on a single by Rhys Hoskins, double by Jake Bauers and a walk by Andrew Monasterio.

Caleb Durbin, the No. 9 hitter, sent a bouncer to the hole between third and short. Ramirez gloved the ball and threw to second to force Monasterio for the third out.

Lefty Kolby Allard followed Junis to the mound, dancing in and out of trouble for three scoreless innings. Allard, whose contract was selected from Class AAA Columbus on April 26, has a 1.20 ERA five appearances covering 15 innings.

Cleveland’s lead grew to 5-0 in the seventh when Santana drew a bases-loaded walk off Bryan Hudson. Pinch-hitter Angel Martinez started the inning with a walk, Steven Kwan followed with a one-out single to extend his on-base streak to 11 games.

After Kwan and Martinez pulled off a double steal, Hudson struck out pinch-hitter Will Wilson before intentionally walking Ramirez to load the bases. Santana followed with his bases-loaded walk.

It wasn’t just some random walk either. It was the 900th of Santana’s career in Cleveland. Jim Thome (1,008) and Santana are the only Cleveland players to draw 900 or more walks.

The Guardians, on Monday night, were better thieves than the Brewers. They matched a season-high with five stolen bases, while the Brewers finished for three.

The Guardians entered Monday’s game after being held to one run in consecutive losses to the Phillies on Saturday and Sunday.

Lively, Junis, Allard, Cade Smith and Hunter Gaddis combined on the seven-hit shutout.

Next

LHP Logan Allen (1-2, 4.33) vs. RHP Quinn Priester (1-1, 5.08) Tuesday at 6:10 p.m. CLEGuardians.TV, WTAM 1100, WMMS 100.7 FM and the Guardians radio network will carry the game.