Bieber extends strikeout record, pitching Indians past Cubs

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This article was published 11/05/2021 (1974 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

CLEVELAND (AP) — Shane Bieber pitched out of some early trouble before extending his strikeout record and César Hernández hit a two-run homer, sending the Cleveland Indians to a 3-2 win over the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night.

Bieber (4-2) struck out eight and has now fanned at least that many in 20 consecutive starts, a major league mark he builds on every time out. The right-hander’s streak was in jeopardy, but he got Nick Martini for strikeout No. 8 in the seventh.

The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner wasn’t as sharp as usual and needed a career-high 121 pitches to go 6 2/3 innings.

James Karinchak finished the seventh for Bieber and worked the eighth. Emmanuel Clase gave up two singles in the ninth, but got Matt Duffy to bounce into a game-ending double play for his seventh save.

Hernández homered in the fifth off Adbert Alzolay (1-3), who matched Bieber for six innings.

ASTROS 5, ANGELS 1

HOUSTON (AP) — Shohei Ohtani struck out 10 in an impressive duel with Lance McCullers Jr., and Houston broke loose against the Los Angeles bullpen.

Ohtani allowed one run and four hits with one walk in seven innings, his longest start of the season. The two-way star then moved to play right field, and Yuli Gurriel homered during Houston’s four-run eighth.

Ohtani batted second and went 1 for 4, striking out twice.

McCullers (3-1) yielded three hits, including a homer by Taylor Ward, while tying a season high with nine strikeouts in going eight innings, his longest start this season. He walked two.

Angels reliever Aaron Slegers (2-1) took the loss after Michael Brantley drove in the go-ahead run off Alex Claudio.

PADRES 8, ROCKIES 1

DENVER (AP) — Manny Machado homered and tripled to drive in five runs, helping to make up for the absence of star shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. and several other teammates as San Diego beat Colorado.

Tatis and outfielder Wil Myers have tested positive for COVID-19, while first baseman Eric Hosmer and two backups are now out for contact tracing, leaving the Padres shorthanded at Coors Field.

Hosmer and Myers both were pulled out in the middle of the game.

Padres manager Jayce Tingler said he hoped the fallout from the virus would stop and anticipated San Diego could play a doubleheader as scheduled Wednesday against the Rockies.

Tatis was put on the injured list. The Padres also were missing utility players Jurickson Profar and Jorge Mateo, who went on the IL as part of baseball’s contact tracing health and safety protocols.

Myers crashed into the right-field wall in the first inning while catching Garrett Hampson’s deep fly ball. Machado hit a two-run drive off Antonio Senzatela (1-4) in the fifth.

Miguel Diaz (1-0) tossed three innings of scoreless relief.

DODGERS 6, MARINERS 4

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Gavin Lux hit a dramatic three-run homer in the eighth inning, and the struggling Los Angeles Dodgers rallied late to beat Seattle.

Lux’s first homer of the season came off Rafael Montero (3-2) and helped the defending World Series champions open a nine-game homestand with just their sixth win in 21 games.

Corey Seager had a two-run single in the seventh for the Dodgers, and Max Muncy hit an early homer as they fell behind 4-1.

Mitch Haniger hit two solo homers and Kyle Seager added a two-run shot for the Mariners, who have lost three straight on their five-game road trip.

Garrett Cleavinger (1-3) pitched a perfect eighth for his first major league win. Kenley Jansen worked a flawless ninth for his sixth save.

Seattle couldn’t capitalize on a strong start by Yusei Kikuchi, who racked up a career-best 11 strikeouts while pitching into the seventh inning.

METS 3, ORIOLES 2

NEW YORK (AP) — Patrick Mazeika got his second walkoff RBI in four career games with a fielder’s choice grounder in the ninth inning, helping banged-up New York rally to beat Baltimore.

The Mets have won six straight.

Baltimore led 2-1 entering the ninth after John Means outdueled Marcus Stroman in his first start since throwing a no-hitter last week.

Mazeika pinch hit in the pitcher’s spot with two on and one out against closer César Valdez and hit a grounder that scored Jonathan Villar.

Valdez (2-1) blew his third save in 11 chances. Jeurys Familia (1-0) dodged trouble in the eighth and got the win.

ATHLETICS 3, RED SOX 2

BOSTON (AP) — Chris Bassitt struck out a season-high 10 over seven effective innings and Oakland beat Boston.

Matt Chapman and Elvis Andrus hit RBI singles for the A’s in the seventh inning as Oakland broke a 1-all tie. Matt Olson also had an RBI single for the A’s.

Bassitt (3-2) allowed three hits and two runs.

Darwinzon Hernandez (0-2) relieved Nathan Eovaldi in the seventh and took the loss.

Yusmeiro Petit pitched a scoreless eighth and Jake Diekman got his fourth save despite walking two batters in the ninth.

DIAMONDBACKS 11, MARLINS 3

PHOENIX (AP) — Madison Bumgarner threw seven shutout innings, Asdrúbal Cabrera had four hits including a three-run homer, and Arizona beat Miami.

Bumgarner (4-2) gave up just four hits that all came in different innings. He added a sacrifice fly at the plate for his first RBI of the season.

The Diamondbacks broke the game open in the fifth when they sent 11 batters to the plate, scored five runs and pushed to a 6-0 lead. That chased starter Pablo López (0-3), who gave up six earned runs over 4 1/3 innings.

YANKEES 3, RAYS 1

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Jordan Montgomery pitched six strong innings, Aaron Judge and Gary Sánchez homered, and New York beat Tampa Bay for the second time in seven games this season.

New York slugger Luke Voit went 0 for 3 in his first game this season. He had knee surgery on March 29.

Montgomery (2-1) gave up one run, two hits, walked one and tied a career high with nine strikeouts. After Jonathan Loaisiga worked two innings, Aroldis Chapman got three outs to get his eighth save and complete a three-hitter.

Judge started in right field after being rested Sunday and hit a first-pitch, first-inning solo homer off Luis Patiño (1-1).

GIANTS 4, RANGERS 2

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Logan Webb set a career high with 10 strikeouts in six innings and San Francisco beat Texas.

Swept in the two-game series, Texas dropped to 0-5 against NL opponents this year.

Mike Yastrzemski and Brandon Belt drove in runs for San Francisco.

Webb (2-3) allowed two runs and three hits to earn his first win in his last three starts. Jake McGee pitched a perfect ninth inning for his 10th save.

Jordan Lyles (1-3) gave up two runs in five innings, striking out six.

CARDINALS 6, BREWERS 1, 11 INNINGS

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Paul Goldschmidt and Tyler O’Neill homered off Brad Boxberger in the 11th inning and St. Louis beat Milwaukee for its fourth straight victory.

Goldschmidt broke a 1-all tie when he sent the first pitch he saw from Boxberger (0-1) well over the wall in left-center field for a two-run blast. O’Neill followed later with a three-run shot.

St. Louis has won 10 of its last 12 and is tied with San Francisco for the best record in the majors.

The Brewers wasted a brilliant effort from starter Freddy Peralta, who struck out eight and gave up just one hit and one walk in seven shutout innings.

Cardinals reliever Alex Reyes (2-0) pitched two scoreless innings, wiggling out of trouble both times.

BLUE JAYS 5, BRAVES 3

ATLANTA (AP) — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. homered and Toronto took advantage of Atlanta’s indecisive fielding in the eighth inning to rally past the Braves.

Guerrero had three hits, including a tying single in a three-run eighth.

Ronald Acuña Jr. hit his major league-leading 11th homer for Atlanta. Marcell Ozuna also connected.

Toronto trailed 3-2 when Jonathan Davis led off the eighth with a double. Marcus Semien followed with a weak grounder to reliever A.J. Minter (1-1), who turned, hesitated and then threw too late to try to catch Davis returning to second base. First baseman Freddie Freeman also hesitated on a grounder later in the inning.

Trent Thornton (1-0) pitched a scoreless seventh.

Jordan Romano survived a stressful ninth to earn his first save.

PHILLIES 6, NATIONALS 2

WASHINGTON (AP) — Bryce Harper treated heckling fans to a long home run, Andrew Knapp delivered a key pinch-hit in place of injured catcher J.T. Realmuto and Philadelphia beat Washington.

Realmuto was hit in the left knee by Josh Bell’s foul ball in the seventh inning.

Trea Turner homered for Washington, which has dropped six of seven.

Chase Anderson (2-3) retired 15 of 16 after yielding two hits to begin the game.

Erick Fedde (2-4) threw only one perfect inning — his last — while making it through five. He surrendered five hits, three walks and three runs and struck out five.

PIRATES 7, REDS 2

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Troy Stokes Jr. drove in runs with each of his first two major league hits, JT Brubaker pitched six strong innings and Pittsburgh beat Cincinnati.

Two days after making his debut, Stokes hit an RBI single in the fourth inning. The right fielder also doubled in a run in the eighth.

Brubaker (3-2) allowed one run on five hits to win for the first time in four starts. He had four strikeouts and one walk.

The Pirates had lost eight straight games to the Reds.

Jeff Hoffman (2-3) lasted four innings, giving up three runs and four hits.

TIGERS 8, ROYALS 7

DETROIT (AP) — Robbie Grossman singled home the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning and Detroit, after squandering a seven-run lead late, recovered to beat skidding Kansas City.

Grossman had five RBIs for the first time in his career, sending the Royals to their ninth straight loss. He ripped a two-out single off Scott Barlow (1-1) in the ninth to score Niko Goodrum.

The major league-worst Tigers led 7-0 with two outs in the eighth. But then Jorge Soler homered and drove in six runs over the final two innings as Kansas City rallied to spoil a great start by Matthew Boyd.

The left-hander pitched six scoreless innings for Detroit, striking out five and walking two.

Gregory Soto (3-1) got one out after Jose Cisnero allowed three runs in the top of the ninth.

WHITE SOX 9, TWINS 3

CHICAGO (AP) — José Abreu hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the sixth inning and Chicago beat Minnesota for its fourth straight win.

Abreu went deep to left center on the first pitch he saw from Jorge Alcala (0-1) for his seventh homer.

Yasmani Grandal lofted a three-run homer in the second for first-place Chicago.

Garrett Crochet (1-2), the second of five Chicago relievers, worked two-thirds of an inning for his first career win.

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