As Indians starting pitchers work their tune-up starts this week in preparation for the playoffs, rookie Shane Bieber made a start Tuesday night in preparation for his move to the bullpen during the postseason. What ensued was a much-needed laugher, in which the Tribe was victorious 10-2.
The result for “Not Justin” was a stellar line: 6 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 2 BB, 9 K.
While Bieber may not crack the playoff rotation come October, his role will still be extremely imperative, as he stands to serve as a very key piece coming out of the Indians bullpen. He was electric on Wednesday night and dominated Chicago hitters throughout the night, losing his no-hitter with two outs in the fifth inning, thanks only to a Yoan Moncada Baltimore Chop back to the mound that bounced 25 feet into the air.
The Tribe offense was no joke either. Edwin Encarnacion brought the lumber to the tune of three hits and four RBI, including the big 3-run home run that put the game away early on in the forth inning.
GAME NOTES & KEY STATS:
- Bieber gets his 11th rookie win, despite not joining the team until late May. The youngster seems to be getting better and gaining more poise. Very excited to watch him in the playoffs this year and many more to come.
- Encarnacion getting hot for the playoffs would be utopian for the Indians. The Parrot can carry the offense during his hot streaks and his ability to find a groove would bode very well for the Houston series, given the pitching battles expected.
- Roberto Perez bounced back from his injury with a rare 2-hit game. If Bauer starts in the playoffs, it will be interesting to see if Perez serves as his personal catcher, as we’ve seen for much of the past two seasons.
- Yonder Alonso may be catching fire at the right time too….Alonso followed up two hits Sunday, three hits Monday, and one hit Tuesday with another 2-hit game Wednesday night. His bat will loom large against Houston and their right-handed-heavy pitching staff.
- Cody Allen is looking rock solid after his brief hiatus last week; Allen pitched a clean 1-2-3 seventh inning and the breaking ball looked super sharp.
- Jose Ramirez had an opposite-field double and is starting to hit the ball the other way again. J-Ram leads all of MLB in “pull hits” in 2018, but may be too pull happy. Him clicking next week–and hopefully throughout October–will be an integral part of the Indians playoff success, or lack thereof.
- Francisco Lindor hit a first inning leadoff home run for the ninth time this season…this is an Indians record and leads all of MLB this season.
- Lindor and Ramirez became the first pair of teammates to each record 80 extra base hits since….Joe DiMaggio and Lou Gehrig…Um, in my humble opinion, that’s pretty good!
- A great victory was subdued, as Erik Gonzalez was hit in the eighth inning. He lay motionless for a while, then slowly sat up and was helped off the field. Gonzalez will be reevaluated after a very scary moment.
- Josh Donaldson showed great patience Wednesday night, drawing four walks, but hit into an inning-ending bases loaded double play in the eighth inning.
ON DECK
The Indians now close the regular season with four games against the Royals in Kansas City. Wednesday’s victory against the White Sox gave Cleveland a 47-25 season record against AL Central Division opponents.