Bieber recovers from slow start as Guardians edge Yankees
CLEVELAND (AP) — James Karinchak drummed on his chest, danced off the mound and almost barreled over catcher Mike Zunino.
Even in April, beating the Yankees warrants an enormous celebration.
“Those are the moments you live for,” Karinchak mentioned.
Shane Bieber shook off a tough first inning to pitch seven, Josh Naylor gave Cleveland the lead with a tiebreaking sacrifice fly and Karinchak labored out of a harrowing jam because the Guardians gained 3-2 on Monday evening in a rematch of final 12 months’s AL Division Series.
Bieber (1-0) appeared to be in bother after giving up two runs and three hits to New York’s first 4 batters. But Cleveland’s ace settled in and retired 17 of 18 in a single stretch. He allowed two runs and 5 hits.
Naylor, who turned a goal for New York followers in the course of the playoffs for his “rock the baby” gesture after hitting a house run in Game 4, put the Guardians up 3-2 within the seventh together with his liner off Ian Hamilton (0-1).
The Yankees had been in place to tie it within the eighth when Gleyber Torres tripled main off. But he was stranded at third by Karinchak, who after being known as for a clock violation earlier than his first pitch, retired Aaron Judge on an infield pop after which struck out Anthony Rizzo and Giancarlo Stanton.
“That was huge,” Bieber mentioned. “An unbelievable inning. It was awesome, and I think it did a lot for us as a team.”
After fanning Stanton, the animated Karinchak pounded his chest after which the reliever bumped Zunino so arduous that he knocked the masks off his catcher’s head.
“I’m happy I had gear on, that’s for sure,” joked Zunino. “I love it. Guys that play with emotion, guys that pitch with emotion, the key is to balance it. But that’s well deserved. That was a huge outing there.”
With Torres on third to start out the eighth, Yankees supervisor Aaron Boone felt assured his crew would tie it.
“Karinchak made some really good pitches,” he mentioned. “We’ll take that situation. But he made some good pitches and sure got excited about it. We just gotta cash in the next time.”
Boone was requested if he had any downside with Karinchak’s enthusiasm.
“No,” he mentioned. “That’s a big spot.”
Emmanuel Clase labored a 1-2-3 ninth for his third save because the Guardians obtained their fourth one-run win of this younger season.
Zunino had three doubles and drove in a run for the Guardians, who had been up 2-1 on the Yankees final October earlier than being eradicated.
New York starter Domingo German walked 5 in three innings — the Yankees walked 9 general — and New York didn’t construct off its early success in opposition to Bieber.
“I thought we did a good job being aggressive with Bieber, not spotting him anything there and Gleyber set the tone in that first inning,” Boone mentioned. “That first inning could have very easily been a four- or five-run inning if the ball finds a hole.”
Judge went 0 for 3 with a stroll, extending his on-base streak to 43 straight video games, the longest for the Yankees since 2005. It’s additionally the third-longest on-base run for New York previously 82 years, eclipsed solely by Derek Jeter (57) and Alex Rodriguez (53).
With DJ LeMahieu getting a day without work, Torres moved into the leadoff spot and obtained the Yankees going instantly.
Torres doubled on Bieber’s first pitch and New York loaded the bases earlier than Stanton ripped his two-run double — clocked at 116.3 mph — off the wall in left-center. Bieber, although, buckled down and obtained obtained three outs to keep away from additional harm.
“Probably a good thing that Stanton used a 2-iron, not a 4-iron because he hit that ball about as hard as you can,” Guardians supervisor Terry Francona mentioned. “But then from there, Beebs was back to Bieber, which I don’t know how easy that is to make that transition, but he sure did it.”
RUNNING WILD
The Guardians had a season-high 4 steals and lead the majors with 18.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Yankees: RHP Luis Severino (lat pressure) threw a profitable 22-pitch bullpen session as he continues to make progress. Severino mentioned he threw all of his pitches, together with a split-finger fastball he’s been engaged on. Boone didn’t have a timetable for Severino.
Guardians: RHP Aaron Civale (strained indirect) is again on the injured record for the fourth time in two seasons. Civale pitched nicely in his first two begins, however felt tightness following his outing on Friday and the membership mentioned imaging checks taken Monday confirmed the pressure.
UP NEXT
Yankees RHP Gerrit Cole (2-0, 0.73) faces the Guardians for the primary time since beating them twice in final 12 months’s playoffs. Hunter Gaddis (0-0, 3.72) begins for Cleveland.
