Last year was no fluke for Shane Bieber.
The Cleveland ace and reigning AL Cy Young Award winner has picked up 2021 right where he left off in 2020 — absolutely dominating hitters and on Sunday he reached a historic achievement.
In the bottom of the seventh inning against the Cincinnati Reds, the right hander got Nick Castellanos to whiff on a knuckle curve for his 10th strikeout of the game, making him the first pitcher to strike out at least 10 batters in each of his first four starting of the season since the mound was moved to its current distance in 1893.
Oh, but it gets better.
Bieber finished the game with 13 strikeouts through eight innings — giving him 48 strikeouts on the season which ties Nolan Ryan for the most strikeouts ever through the first four starts of a season.
Bieber’s performance helped lead the Indians to a 6-3 win over the Reds. He is now 1-1 with a 2.45 ERA AND 0.92 WHIP.
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