Bieber’s 11 Ks, Miller’s 4 RBI power Guardians past Orioles

Shane Bieber was dominant on the mound Friday night, taking a no-hitter into the sixth inning as the Cleveland Guardians staved off a late rally to beat the Baltimore Orioles, 6-3.

This was the best Bieber has looked all season, striking out 11 over seven shutout innings. He pitched 5.2 hitless innings before Trey Mancini lined a four-seam fastball into left field to break up Bieber’s no-hit bid in the sixth inning. His slider (44% CSW%) was untouchable for most of the game, and he had much better command of his four-seam fastball (40% CSW%) with an uptick in his velocity, averaging 91.2 mph. Bieber simply ran out of gas in the eighth, allowing back-to-back singles to lead off the inning. Enyel De Los Santos allowed both to score on a RBI double by Mancini, giving Bieber a final line of: 7 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 2 ER, 11 K.

After coming on in relief of Bieber in the eighth inning with runners on first and second, De Los Santos struck out Jorge Mateo and got Cedric Mullins to fly out to shallow center field, but allowed both runners to advance on a wild pitch. Mancini’s two-out RBI double got the Orioles on the board and Anthony Santander followed with a long RBI single off the wall in right field, cutting the deficit to 6-3. Eli Morgan took over from there and struck out Austin Hays to end the inning, locking him up on a 2-2 fastball at the knees that went for a called third strike.

Emmanuel Clase pitched a scoreless ninth to close it out.

The Guardians got after it in the first inning, taking an aggressive approach at the plate against Orioles starting pitcher Bruce Zimmerman. After Myles Straw flied out to right field on the first pitch of the game, Amed Rosario took a first-pitch fastball and then blooped a single to left-center off a changeup. Jose Ramirez doubled down the third base line on a first-pitch fastball to put runners at second and third with one out. Both would come around to score thanks to Owen Miller, who took a curveball for a strike and then lined an RBI double off the glove of third baseman Tyler Nevin.

Miller came through for Cleveland again in the third inning. With one out, Ramirez at first base, and Myles Straw on third, Miller lined an RBI single to center field. Center fielder Cedric Mullins made a diving attempt to rob him of a hit but couldn’t make the catch. Straw scored easily and Ramirez, who was in the process of stealing second base when Miller put the ball in play, was able to score from first, narrowly avoiding the tag after Mullins threw home.

Josh Naylor made it 5-0 in the third inning after an RBI single to score Miller, and tacked on another insurance run in the seventh inning, scoring Miller again on an RBI double.

Miller was 3-for-5 on the night, scoring a pair of runs and driving in four. Naylor, Ramirez, Myles Straw, Oscar Gonzalez, and Austin Hedges each had two hits a piece.