CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Shane Bieber went the distance and gave the bullpen the afternoon off.
Bieber tossed a complete game to pick up his fourth win of the season and bounce back from a tough outing in Detroit by shutting down the White Sox in Game 1 of a day-night doubleheader with Chicago, a 4-1 Guardians victory.
“I enjoyed that,” Bieber said.
Bieber struck out seven in his fourth career complete game that saw him allow just three hits and five baserunners while throwing 95 pitches.
“On a day with a doubleheader, that’s kind of what I wanted to do especially trying to bounce back from my last outing,” Bieber said.
Bieber’s gem was the first complete game tossed by a Guardians starter since August of 2020.
“He went out and was in command of the game,” manager Terry Francona said. “A couple mishaps out there and he picked us up with a couple of double plays. When you look up at nine innings and under 100 pitches, it means the guy is pitching.”
Offensively, the Guardians, who got back above .500 by improving to 43-42, dialed up the two-out magic to give Bieber all the support he would need.
In the bottom of the third, Amed Rosario brought Austin Hedges, who singled with one out, home after dropping a double into left center to score the game’s first run. Jose Ramirez promptly followed with a two-run single to right field putting Cleveland up 3-0.
Rosario came through again with two outs in the bottom of the fifth when he slapped a double up the alley and to the wall in right center, scoring Myles Straw, who walked with one out, from first to extend to a 4-0 advantage.
“When we do that, that’s our best chance to win,” Francona said. “Some days are a little easier than others to do it, but when we have the ability to get on base and move and create things like that, that’s when we’re at our best.”
Cleveland improved to 38-1 in Bieber’s last 39 starts when giving him at least four runs of support according to Ballys Sports.
White Sox starter Davis Martin, who fell to 1-3 on the season, departed after six innings in which he was charged with four runs on eight hits with three strikeouts and two walks.
Bieber lost the shutout in the seventh when Eloy Jimenez drove in Andrew Vaughn, who was hit by a pitch with one out, to get the White Sox on the board and cut the Guardians lead to 4-1.
“Obviously I would like to have a couple of pitches back but no big deal,” Bieber said. “I was able to go out there and be efficient and get through nine.”
The only threat of the afternoon for Chicago was quickly snuffed out when Gavin Sheets grounded into a double play, ending the inning.
“It’s exactly what I expect,” catcher Austin Hedges said of Bieber’s dominance. “The guy is one of the best in the league for a reason. Really, for him, it all comes down to execution and I thought he executed all of his pitches today and was able to get ahead of guys. We got our strikeouts but not necessarily needed to strike everybody out, getting guys with fastballs. I though his cutter was really, really good for us today too.”
