CLEVELAND (AP) — Shane Bieber struck out a season-high nine over six innings, Amed Rosario had an RBI triple among his four hits, and the Cleveland Guardians beat the Detroit Tigers 2-0 on Tuesday night.
Bieber (3-1) scattered seven hits and walked one before relievers James Karinchak, Sam Hentges, Trevor Stephan and Emmanuel Clase completed Cleveland’s third shutout of the season. Clase leads the majors with 13 saves in 16 chances.
Rosario singled in each of his three at-bats against Detroit starter Michael Lorenzen (1-2), then tripled home Will Brennan in the ninth against José Cisnero. His drive soared over the head of right fielder Matt Vierling and off the wall.
José Ramírez had a sacrifice fly in the first inning that scored Steven Kwan, who had doubled for his AL-leading 14th leadoff hit.
Spencer Torkelson and Akil Baddoo each had three hits for Detroit, which went 1 for 15, struck out 10 times with runners in scoring position and was shut out for the first time since opening day. The Tigers fell to 6-2 in May and dropped behind second-place Cleveland in the AL Central.
Right-hander Lorenzen pitched seven innings and allowed one run for the second straight start, striking out three without a walk. It was his fourth career outing of at least seven innings and one or fewer runs.
Former AL Cy Young Award winner Bieber lowered his ERA to 2.61 through eight starts.
The Guardians are 7-10 at Progressive Field and have won only one of their first five home series. They split the first two games against Detroit.
Detroit loaded the bases with one out in the second and had Javier Báez thrown out at the plate by right fielder Will Brennan in the third. Detroit stole three bases in the first four innings.
REPEAT PERFORMANCE?
The defending division champion Guardians started the season 16-19 for the second year in a row. Unlike in 2022, Cleveland is showing no signs of a turnaround, ranking last in the majors in homers, total bases, slugging percentage and pitching strikeouts.
“I don’t really care about yesterday, let alone last year,” manager Terry Francona said. “I haven’t given much thought to it.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Tigers: OF Kerry Carpenter (right shoulder sprain), who was placed on the 10-day injured list on April 29, experienced discomfort while hitting off a tee over the weekend. “He was sore, so we’ll slow his progression down a little bit,” manager A.J. Hinch said.
Guardians: RHP Triston McKenzie (right upper back strain) is scheduled to throw a live bullpen session Thursday in Goodyear, Arizona. McKenzie has not appeared in a major league game since Oct. 15, 2022 in the AL Division Series against the Yankees.
UP NEXT
Tigers LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (3-2, 1.81 ERA) takes on Guardians RHP Peyton Battenfield (0-3, 4.07 ERA) in the series finale. Rookie Battenfield has limited hitters to a .207 average over his first five appearances.
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