Former UCSB star fans 11 in earning fifth victory of the season
Shane Bieber made it look easy at UCSB.
He’s doing the same thing in the big leagues.
The hard-throwing right-hander struck out 11 in six innings to lead the Cleveland Indians to a 2-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday night at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.
Bieber allowed no runs on six hits with no walks to earn his fifth win of the season against no losses.
He faced a first-and-third, no-out situation in the bottom of the sixth, but Bieber recorded two strikeouts and a fly out to get out of the inning with no runs scored.
Cleveland provided all the offense Bieber would need in the second inning when catcher Beau Taylor singled home the game’s first run. The Indians added their final run in the eighth.
Bieber’s 11 strikeouts against the Pirates brings his season total to 65. He’s now tied with Curt Schilling for the fourth most strikeouts by a pitcher in his first six starts since 1893.
Thursday also marked Bieber’s fourth double-digit strikeout game of the season. The only other pitchers in Cleveland franchise history to do the same in their first six starts are Sam McDowell in 1966, 1968 and 1970, and Hall of Famer Bob Feller in 1946.
Bieber’s effort on Thursday night followed a seven-inning shutout performance in his previous start against the Detroit Tigers. He also lowered his earned run average to 1.11.
With runners in scoring position this season, batters have gone 0-15 with nine strikeouts against Bieber.
In other baseball news, the Dodgers made easy work of the Seattle Mariners with a 6-1 victory. Left-hander Clayton Kershaw struck out 11 in seven strong innings and Cody Bellinger — the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner — belted a home run for the second game in a row.
Kershaw moved past the late Don Drysdale into second place on the Dodgers all-time strikeout list.
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