Shane Bieber picked a bad time to have his worst outing of the season.
Bieber is a lock to win the AL Cy Young Award for the shortened season. The 25-year-old went 8-1 with a 1.63 ERA and 122 strikeouts for the Cleveland Indians in the regular season. His wins tied for the most in MLB and he was first in ERA and strikeouts.
Bieber never allowed more than three runs and six hits in a single start. Until Tuesday.
Pitching against the New York Yankees in Game 1 of the Indians’ Wild Card Series, Bieber allowed seven runs. He surrendered three runs through three innings; five runs through four innings; and seven runs in five innings. He allowed a 2-run home run to Aaron Judge to fall behind 2-0 two batters into the game. He allowed two other run-scoring doubles. Gleyber Torres chased him from the game with a 2-run home run in the fifth.
The seven runs and nine hits allowed were a season-high mark for Bieber.
Bieber was dominant during the regular season. Seeing him get bombed by the Yankees was probably the last thing Cleveland expected.
