The Cleveland Indians were not able to come away with a win against the Chicago White Sox in Arizona losing by a score of 7-3.
Shane Bieber took the loss in Cleveland’s 7-3 defeat to Chicago Sunday. Things could have been much worse as Jose Ramirez exited the game due to injury. Bieber pitched five innings, allowed three runs on six hits while striking out three. All three runs surrendered by Bieber came in the third inning.
Neil Ramirez came on to pitch the sixth inning and gave up a solo home run to Adam Engel. Ramirez allowed two hits (including the homer) and struck out one in his only inning of work.
Oliver Perez struggled, giving up three runs on three hits in the seventh inning. This was far from what the Indians need from Perez this season, but it is not a reason to panic. Perez should be fine once the regular season starts.
All three of the Indians runs came courtesy of Jordan Luplow. Luplow got the Tribe on the board with an RBI double in the seventh inning. In the ninth Luplow would double to drive home two to bring the Indians final run total to three. Luplow was 2-2 on the day and appears to be turning things around as the regular season approaches.
Newly signed infielder Brad Miller went 1-3 on the day. This is a good sign considering the injuries to Jose Ramirez, Francisco Lindor and Jason Kipnis. It appears that Cleveland will lean heavily on Miller at the beginning of the season due to the absence of their regular infielders.
Another good sign for Cleveland is that Jake Bauers went 2-3. This has raised Bauers’ average to .275 this spring and should help the young outfielder build confidence as he enters his first season in Cleveland.
