CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Shane Bieber dodged traffic all night, but escaped trouble with the exception of one inning.
Bieber labored through 6 2/3 innings but extended his Major League record with his 20th consecutive game with eight or more strikeouts while Jose Ramirez and Cesar Hernandez homered as the Indians beat the Cubs 3-2 Tuesday night at Progressive Field.
Bieber, who won his fourth of the season to improve to 4-2, allowed nine hits and walked three as he worked around baserunners all night.
“I thought he made some mistakes, but I also thought he threw some strikes that weren’t called,” manager Terry Francona said. “That’s part of the game but he pitched 6 2/3 and [gave up] two runs. He pitched pretty damn good. He competes like crazy.”
Cleveland’s reigning Cy Young award winner refused to give in no matter how tight the strike zone got or how many runners reached base.
“If you lose your composure, it’s probably going to come back and bite you,” Bieber said of some of the non-strike calls. “Sometimes you’ve got to bite your tongue, but it comes down to focusing on what you can do.
Saying something, getting flustered or showing bad body language is only going to hurt you.”
After being retired in order in the first on 10 pitches, the Cubs struck first and got to Bieber in the second.
Anthony Rizzo hit a one hop rocket to the wall in left for a leadoff double and Willson Contreras brought him home with a single to center for a 1-0 lead. Bieber walked David Bote and hit Jason Heyward to load the bases with no one out. Bieber escaped further damage by striking out Ildemaro Vargas and getting Eric Sogard to ground into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.
“My stuff hasn’t been exceptional like the beginning of the year right now, so to be able to go out there and you got one goal in mind and that’s to win,” Bieber said.
Ramirez socked his 10th home run of the year to right field on a 3-2 pitch to lead off the bottom of the fourth and tie the game at 1.
Sogard deposited a Bieber offering into the right field chairs, his first four-bagger of the season, to lead off the fifth and put the Cubs back in front, 2-1.
Hernandez put the Indians back in front with a two-out, two-run homer to right field in the fifth, 3-2, scoring Andres Gimenez, who was hit by a pitch on the hand.
Umpires originally ruled the ball hit Gimenez’s bat for a foul ball but Francona won the challenge to put the shortstop aboard.
Bieber’s record-extending eighth strikeout didn’t come until the seventh inning when he got Nick Martini swinging for his last out of the evening. He threw 121 pitches, 75 of those for strikes.
“I don’t think his slider’s been the last couple of games what he’s been used to,” Francona said. “Knowing Biebs, he’ll go out in his bullpen and fix it.”
Bieber agreed with Francona but has been able to pitch through not throwing it with perfection.
“That was a pitch that I’ve relied heavily on early in the year and my last two starts it’s kind of gone away from me,” Bieber said. “To keep things in perspective, in the past with my old slider when it kind of leaves me it’s not competitive and I would have to bag it, I’d have to put it in my back pocket and rely on my other stuff. To look at the positives here, although I’m not feeling great with it and not getting the kind of swings that I want, it’s still useable and it’s still a competitive pitch so I’m trying to use that to my advantage.”
Cubs starter Adbert Alzolay fell to 1-3 after allowing three runs on five hits in six innings.
Cubs center fielder Kris Bryant was removed from the game in the middle of the sixth because he “was under the weather” according to the team. Joc Pederson moved from left to center and Martini came on to play left and hit second for Bryant.
James Karinchak threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings with a walk and strikeout in relief of Bieber.
Emmanuel Clase allowed back-to-back one-out singles to Pederson and Martini but got Matt Duffy to ground into a 4-6-3 double play to end the game for his seventh save of the season.