CLEVELAND, Ohio – A recording of John Adams playing his bass drum in the background. The drag strip on East Ninth Street featured one roaring motorcycle after another piercing the darkness.
The seats were empty, but a loud fan, from outside the door on the Home Run Porch, screamed until his lungs gave way.
Welcome to opening night 2020 at Progressive Field. Welcome to Shane Bieber’s night.
Bieber started the Indians season with a franchise record of 14 strikeouts in a 2-0 victory over the Royals. The last Indians pitcher to approach so many strikeouts on opening day was Gary Bell, who struck out 12 in 10 1/3 innings against the Tigers on April 19, 1960. Bieber struck out 14 in six scoreless innings.
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Hall of Fame member Randy Johnson is the last pitcher to strike out 14 batters on opening day. The Great Unity did it for Seattle against the White Sox on March 31, 1996. Camilo Pascual holds the record with 15 for the Senators in 1960.
Opening night was delayed 120 days due to the coronavirus. Bieber (1-0, 0.00) was supposed to start that game also on March 26 against Detroit. The layoff didn’t hurt him, as he allowed four hits on 97 pitches.
“There was a lot of new stuff for everyone today,” said Bieber. “There are no fans in the stands. I thought I was ready for it after practicing against your own team.
“But it’s different when you have another player step in the frame that you haven’t potentially seen at all. There are no fans in the stands and they are pumping out the noise from the crowd. It’s a little synthetic, but you get used to it and I fell into a nice rhythm. ”
The Royals, devastated by the coronavirus, started with left-hander Danny Duffy. The Indians have not treated him well in his career, but Duffy made them appear for 4 1/3 innings. Still, Duffy is 0-7 in his last eight starts against the Indians.
As soon as Duffy left, the Indians took a 2-0 lead.
Duffy hit Jordan Luplow with a pitch to start the fifth. Domingo Santana fouled out to first, but Roberto Pérez singled in the middle to send Luplow to third. Scott Barlow relieved Duffy and Oscar Mercado greeted him with a single in the middle for a 1-0 lead when Perez went to third.
César Hernández doubled the previous third for his first official coup since he signed with the Indians in December. Pérez scored with a 2-0 lead and it seemed like a great inning was at hand. That thought was reinforced when Barlow hit José Ramírez to load the bases with one out, but the center of the lineup failed.
Francisco Lindor struck out and Carlos Santana hit in a forced play.
“We don’t hit the ball around the stadium,” manager Terry Francona said. “We stayed in the middle and hit the ball to the other side and were rewarded for it. I thought Roberto’s running base was huge. I don’t know how many receivers can go from first to third that way and I was doing it from the beginning. That really helped us. “
It took Bieber a moment or two to find his balance in the first inning as he dealt with an adrenaline rush. When he did, he rolled.
The game started by hitting Whitt Merrifield, but Adalberto Mondesi recovered on a forced play in the second. Catcher Roberto Pérez shot Mondesi trying to steal second place, but Jorge Soldier walked and Salvador Pérez singled.
Bieber ended the inning by striking out Alex Gordon. From that moment he was locked up. Starting with Gordon’s strikeout, Bieber retired nine games in a row and 11 of the 12. Ten of those strikeouts came to strikeouts.
“They made Shane work on his first and fifth innings,” Francona said. “But for him to go over six with 97 pitches, it’s a good pitch. I don’t know how many strikeouts he had, but there were many. “
When Bieber was told he set a franchise record with 14 strikeouts on opening day, Francona said, “OK, that’s a lot.”
He ran into trouble in the fifth when Nicky Lopez singled to center field with one out. Bubba Starling struck out, but Merrifield singled to right to send Lopez to third. Merrifield stole second place, but Bieber struck out Mondesi to keep the game scoreless.
Mondesi’s strikeout was Bieber’s twelfth to five innings.
Bieber’s last inning was the sixth and he struck out Perez and Gordon. Bieber’s ninth strikeout of the game may have been the most impressive because it included a little help from Perez. Ryan McBroom struck out to finish the fourth, but the pitch passed Perez. He ran after him, making a big stop and throwing him off the ground to register the start.
Adam Cimber, Nick Wittgren and Brad Hand combined in the four-hitter game by keeping the Royals goalless in the last three innings. Hand threw the ninth to save.
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RHP Mike Clevinger will face RHP Brady Singer of Kansas City, who will make his major league debut, at 5:10 pm Saturday. SportsTime Ohio and WTAM will lead the game.
New Indian face masks for sale: This is where you can buy Cleveland Indians-themed facial liners for coronavirus protection, including a mask ($ 14.99) and a 3-pack ($ 24.99). All MLB proceeds donated to charities.
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