Guardians go quietly as Brewers beat up Shane Bieber

Shane Bieber had another start end on a sour note as the Cleveland Guardians failed to solve veteran left-hander Wade Miley in a 7-1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.

Catcher William Contreras was the bane of Bieber’s existence from the first inning on. His double put him in position to score the game’s first run on a two-out RBI single by Willy Adames, giving the Brewers a 1-0 lead in the first frame. Even as Bieber held Milwaukee scoreless over the next four innings, Contreras got the better of Bieber again the third inning, drawing a walk in his second at-bat. Then he sparked the end of Bieber’s night in his third plate appearance.

Up until the sixth inning, Bieber was having a solid night. He had allowed two hits, two walks, and one run while striking out eight. But then Contreras came to the plate in the sixth and reached base for a third time in as many at-bats. His leadoff single was followed by a Rowdy Tellez and then a three-run homer that Adames launched out of Progressive Field. This all happened in the span six pitches. Manager Terry Francona, in a rare bit of foresight, seemed to have anticipated Bieber might run into trouble and had Tim Herrin warming in the bullpen.

Bieber got the hook and in came Herrin, who recorded two outs before he unraveled. A single, a hit by pitch, an RBI single, and another RBI single made it a 6-1 lead for the Brewers.

Milwaukee would add an insurance run in the ninth inning on another Adames homer, but it wasn’t necessary. The Guardians didn’t have enough life in them to stage a rally, bested once again by starting pitcher Wade Miley. He wasn’t able to repeat his no-hitter from 2021, but he pitched six shutout innings and limited Cleveland to three hits. Miley was not overpowering, only notching three strikeouts, but the veteran continues to confound Guardians hitters.

Cleveland’s only run of the game came on a José Ramírez home run in the seventh inning, in their very first at-bat in the game against a pitcher not named Wade Miley.