When the ALDS shifted to Chicago, the Cleveland Guardians knew they would be playing for their season with no margin for error. 

Thanks to back-to-back wins, including Thursday's 9-5 win in Game 4 over the Chicago White Sox, they are now heading back to Cleveland for a decisive Game 5 on Saturday night with a trip to the ALCS on the line. 

The player most responsible for their season still going? It is their best player, Jose Ramirez, who is finally having his big postseason moment. 

He came through again on Thursday night.

Ramirez has been the foundation of the Guardians roster since becoming a full-time player in 2016, and he has consistently been one of the best players in the American League. He has been a regular in the MVP race, finishing in the top-five six times, and has won six Silver Slugger awards.

But for as great as he has been in the regular season, the playoff success has not always followed for him.

He entered play on Thursday as a career .232 hitter in the playoffs, a 40-point drop from his regular-season number.

His .693 postseason OPS was even worse, dropping 151 points from his career regular-season number.

Whether it's fair or not due to the sample sizes involved, great players are always judged most harshly based on what they do in the biggest moments and in the biggest spots. The playoffs are always at the top of that list. 

And while Ramirez has at times struggled in those moments in the past, he has come through over the past two games with his team's season on the line.

In Wednesday's Game 3 win, it was a combination of his glove and his bat swinging the game in the Guardians' favor.

In Thursday's game, it was largely his bat.

He finished the game 2-for-5 with three runs batted in, including a monster two-run home run in the top of the fifth inning. 

Combined with Wednesday's performance, he is 4-for-9 with a home run, double, triple and single, while also accounting for nine of the team's 18 runs (driving in five of them and scoring four of them) in the two biggest games of the season.

That is a clutch performance.

It is also a series-changing performance.

It is a big reason the Guardians have a chance to punch their ALCS ticket on Saturday night in front of their home fans.