The Cleveland Baseball Club will need Shane Bieber to continue his dominant run if they are going to defeat the Minnesota Twins Tuesday.
Shane Bieber will start for the Cleveland Baseball Club as they look to bounce back from Monday’s 3-2 loss to the Minnesota Twins. Cleveland will need Bieber to continue being dominant if they are going to defeat the division leading Twins.
Bieber has already faced the Twins once this season, a spectacular 8 inning performance where he only allowed 3 hits and struck out 13 Minnesota batters. This will be the first time Bieber will be facing a team for a second time this season.
Shane Bieber leads all of baseball with 65 strikeouts, the second-highest total is Cincinnati’s Sonny Gray with 51. The Cy Young candidate has struck out 11 or more batters in three of his five starts this season. Bieber has 11 strikeouts in his last two starts against the Tigers and Pirates.
The Twins will be starting Rich Hill, his second start since coming of the injured list. Hill struggled a bit in his last start, allowing 4 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks in just 2.2 innings. If Hill were to struggle again it would be a welcome sign for a struggling Cleveland offense.
There is a little bit of a positive track record for some Cleveland hitters. Cesar Hernandez (1-3), Jose Ramirez (2-3), and Domingo Santana (1-2) all have doubles against Hill. Franmi Reyes (1-6), Francisco Lindor (1-3), and Carlos Santana (1-5) also have hits against Rich Hill. Catcher Roberto Perez has faced Hill but is 0-1.
It is going to come down to whether or not Cleveland can get hits and proceed to drive them in. They failed the second part of this process in Monday’s loss and unless they turn it around Tuesday a second straight loss is possible.
