CLEVELAND, Ohio – One intrasquad game is the same as another, right? Go through five or six tickets to be one day closer to the opening day where you will face another person besides your teammates.
On Tuesday night at Progressive Field, the Indians played game number 6 intra-squad, but it was far from mundane. Shane Bieber was working against some of the best hitters on the Indians list and was upset that he wasn’t getting any calls. That made pitching coach Carl Willis happy.
The opening of the regular season is nine days away and Bieber will make that start against the Royals. If you’re creating internal fire for that game, there’s nothing wrong with that, Willis said.
“I told him I was very excited,” said Willis. “He got a little upset tonight with maybe some check cashes that maybe weren’t called. We didn’t have an umpire at third base. He is definitely competing and that is important. But it was a lot of fun seeing him tonight. “
Tuesday’s divided team once again introduced manager Terry Francona’s team against coach Mike Barnett’s team. Francona’s team used only seven batters. Left fielder Agustine Rivero, the team’s interpreter, did not hit. It meant the lineup was spinning faster than normal, and Bieber saw César Hernández, José Ramírez, Francisco Lindor, Carlos Santana, and Tyler Naquin, the top five hitters in the lineup, far too many for his liking.
“I think I was getting a little bit hot, I thought, ‘Man, these are seven of the best hitters in the league,'” Bieber said, “and we only had seven hitters in that lineup, so I was watching them the fourth time and It was the sixth inning. In a real game, you’re generally fighting pretty hard if you face them four times in the sixth inning. So I thought, ‘Man, I need every hit and foul I can get.’ So yeah, that was fun. ” .
There were only three umpires working in the game, which left third base unmanned, but Bieber didn’t need that much help. He allowed a career with five hits in six innings. He struck out 10, including the last five hitters, and walked two.
In the sixth, he struck out Hernández, Ramírez and Lindor in order.
Willis said Bieber’s trade, a pitch that has sometimes been difficult for the right-hander, came into play in the last innings.
“It seems like Frankie and Jose were faced with every inning that came out, and Carlos Santana,” Willis said. “We saw some control changes and changes and failures, including the last at-bat, with Lindor, after he fell behind in the count. So I think it’s a release that has worked tremendously, seen an improvement. it’s going to be a big part of his repertoire here in 2020. “
This was Bieber’s second start to Spring Training II. He had five innings the first time, but stumbled after opening the game with six consecutive outs. On Tuesday, with the exception that Santana and Naquin reached consecutive doubles in the fifth, there were no stumbles.
Willis felt the difference between the two starts was change.
“I think his change tonight was very, very effective,” Willis said. “She’s been playing with a little bit of a different grip, and all of a sudden she’s starting to create a little bit more depth in that field.” . . I think we are seeing that everything really comes together right now. “
Barnett’s team used six relievers. Five of them did well, including James Karinchak, who retired the team in strikeout order. On July 9, Karinchak walked four in one inning, so he is moving in the right direction. Karinchak, Hunter Wood, James Hoyt and Adam Cimber allowed one run over five combined innings. Anthony Gose was not so lucky.
He started and finished fifth with a strikeout. In the middle he walked two, allowed a single for Oscar Mercado and a grand slam for Domingo Santana with the game tied, 1-1. Gose is a converted gardener and the Indians love his arm. On Tuesday night, his first launch was 99 mph.
“He is a great athlete,” Willis said. “It is really a matter of him continuing to learn to launch and learn his body and body movements. When attacking the strike zone, we obviously saw that the first pitch of his exit was 99 mph.
“It is a good fastball. It’s a power ball that I think you need to throw to hit a little more often. But with his athletic ability, when you look at the short period of time he’s really been pitching, I think we’ll see that happen. It is exciting to see it. Really is.”
Carlos Santana and Naquin had two hits each for Francona. Christian Arroyo led Barnett’s first run in the second with a single. Bobby Bradley scored after doubling the top of the left field wall with two out.
Fanatics has released facial masks for the Cleveland Indians, with sales benefiting two charities. See details and product links below.
New Indian face masks for sale: This is where you can buy Cleveland Indians-themed face 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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