Cleveland 2, White Sox 0: Bieber vs. Giolito lived up to the hype

For the first nine innings of tonight’s contest, it was a brilliant masterpiece provided by Lucas Giolito and Shane Bieber. Both had their “A” grade stuff and refused to buckle. Unfortunately for the Chicago White Sox, they are still having issues figuring out how to play the 10th inning as Cleveland found a way to win 2-0. 

With the way Shane Bieber commanded his pitches, it probably didn’t matter who was in the White Sox lineup. Jose Abreu, Danny Mendick, and Adam Eaton were the only players to record a hit against Bieber (all singles). Tony La Russa’s plan of having Yoan Moncada, Nick Williams, Yasmani Grandal, and Jake Lamb batting together to have four consecutive lefties failed miserably. The quartet combined were 0-for-16 with eight strikeouts. 

What caused problems for the Sox hitters against Bieber was his knuckle curve. Throwing it 41% of the time, Bieber was able to generate a 42% whiff rate. Even when the pitch hung up a bit in the zone, no Sox hitters could take advantage of the opportunity.

Yermin Mercedes almost did the ninth inning. Pinch-hitting for Danny Mendick, Mercedes got jammed on an inside knuckle curve but got enough on it to travel down the right-field line. As the ball landed, it appeared that it hit chalk, resulting in a double, but at least a lead-off single. The call was a foul ball, and after checking in with the replay office, there wasn’t enough video evidence to show that the ball was fair. Mercedes would ground out later in the at-bat, but the Sox kept Bieber working. Eaton laced a single to left field, and Abreu walked to give Moncada a chance to be the hero. 

Instead, Bieber threw four straight knuckle curves to punch Moncada out, ending the threat and his night. At 113 pitches, Bieber went 9 IP 3 H 0 R 1 BB 11 K. 

Giolito didn’t get into the ninth inning as his pitch count got to triple digits as he started the eighth inning. Mainly sticking with the trusted fastball/changeup combo, Giolito only faced trouble dealing with Eddie Rosario. A leadoff double in the second got Cleveland in business, but Giolito stranded Rosario. An infield single in the fourth inning gave Rosario a multi-hit game against Giolito, but his teammates had a terrible time making solid contact. 

La Russa had Giolito start the eighth inning, and on a 3-2 count against Roberto Perez, the changeup sailed up and out of the strike zone. The leadoff walk was enough for La Russa to lift Giolito for Evan Marshall. After a sacrifice bunt, Marshall shut down Cleveland striking out Ben Gamel and getting Cesar Hernandez to foul out. Giolito’s night was done with the stranded runner, and it was a dandy of a finish going 7 IP 3 H 0 R 2 BB 8 K. 

Liam Hendriks came in the ninth inning and had his best performance in a Sox uniform, striking out two batters as Cleveland went out in order. 

Like in their previous extra-innings game against Kansas City earlier in the homestand, La Russa went with Crochet to start the 10th inning. Franmil Reyes was the starting runner on second base and Josh Naylor at-bat. This combination did not scream a sacrifice bunt chance with two sluggers involved. On the very first pitch, Naylor hit a comebacker to Crochet, but he couldn’t handle it bouncing out of his glove. When Crochet got to the ball, he didn’t bother making a throw to first base allowing Naylor to reach. 

The umpires convened and determined that Naylor’s swing made contact with Grandal’s glove, and thus Catcher’s Interference was awarded. Reyes was still allowed to move to third on the play. 

Yu Chang, who helped the White Sox last night with his errant throw, hit a short fly to shallow right field. Eaton did an excellent job calling off Nick Madrigal to make the catch, and Reyes didn’t bother tagging up. With one out and Roberto Perez batting, an inning-ending double play was still possible to keep the game scoreless.

Crochet got his grounder, but Leury Garcia filling in for Mendick played on the grass, and didn’t have the best angle. All he could do is prevent the grounder from reaching the outfield, but it was enough for Reyes to score. Then pinch-hitter Amed Rosario gave Cleveland an extra cushion with an RBI double to make it 2-0. La Russa replaced Crochet with Matt Foster, who did a good job avoiding any more runs to score. However, the damage was done. 

For the White Sox 10th inning, Williams struck out, and Grandal grounded out to second base. Needing a home run, Lamb got ahead 3-0 in the count against James Karinchak. A high fastball was called for strike one, and Lamb swung through a fastball for strike two. Lamb made good contact on the final pitch, which carried well to the right-field warning track but fell short of going over the fence by two feet. 

Game Notes:

• Lucas Giolito’s season ERA is now 2.55
• Shane Bieber’s strikeout totals per start: 12, 12, and 11. 
• Cleveland is now 3-0 the past two seasons in Bieber vs. Giolito matchups with a +4 run differential. 

Record: 5-6 | Box Score | StatCast