The Cleveland Baseball Club did not the season on a good note as they lost the season opener to the Detroit Tigers by a score of 3-2.
Shane Bieber got the start for the Cleveland Baseball Club on Opening Day and did everything the team could ask for. Bieber struck out 12 over 6 innings, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits and 3 walks. The blemish on his line is the surprising two-run homer from Miguel Cabrera that gave the Tigers an early 2-0 lead.
Detroit would add another run in the following inning. Victor Reyes scored on a throwing error from Jose Ramirez after a JaCoby Jones double.
Cleveland did pose a threat a few times throughout the game, but nothing came of it until the the 9th. Amed Rosario reached on an infield single and Roberto Perez followed with a two-run homer off of Gregory Soto. With two outs in the inning, Ben Gamel reached on a five pitch walk setting up Cleveland with a game tying scenario. Cesar Hernandez would battle in a seven pitch at-bat, but would fly out to end the game.
Bryan Shaw and James Karinchak did pitch in relief for the Cleveland Baseball Club. Both pitched well, registering one walk and one strikeout each in their lone innings of work.
Cleveland actually had more hits (6) than Detroit (5) and reached via base on balls more (6-5). The threats just never seemed real for Cleveland as they were not able to string enough together in a row.
The offensive performance Thursday seems to be a bit of a preview for this upcoming season. Cleveland does not have high expectations for their offense and will need their pitching staff to absolutely dominate in order to win games.
