Cleveland Indians ace Shane Bieber struck out 10 batters on Tuesday, but he also allowed four hits and three walks, and that was enough for the Twins to score two runs in the top of the second inning to take a 2-1 lead.
That lead would hold up for four innings, then Twins reliever Jorge Alcala served up a double and home run in the bottom of the sixth, and the Indians finally prevailed, 4-2.
Ex-Dodger Rich Hill bounced back from his previous start and held the Tribe to one run over five innings with five strikeouts. Jose Berrios, who pitched masterfully in his last start, gets the ball Wednesday in the rubber match.
Extra innings…
-After Alcala gave up three runs in the sixth, Harvard man Sean Poppen pitched two scoreless innings with two walks and two strikeouts.
-The Tribe’s Francisco Lindor hit the two-run home run off Alcala, then rounded the bases a tad exorbitantly. After the Twins’ Sergio Romo stared down the Indians bench on Monday and Lindor’s celebration on Tuesday, my sense of things is that the bad blood is starting to build between these two teams. If someone gets hit by a pitch in the rubber match, I wouldn’t be surprised if the dugouts empty.
-Twins left fielder Eddie Rosario had another assist in Tuesday’s game, throwing out a runner at second base with ease.
-The Twins’ Kenta Maeda pitched a no-hitter for eight innings last week and the Chicago White Sox’s Lucas Giolito completed the feat on Tuesday. Giolito no-hit the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-0. He struck out 13 with one walk. The sad-sack Bucs fell to 7-18.
-After the Twins loss, the AL Central looks like this: the Twins are 20-11 and the Indians and White Sox are tied at 18-12.