Guardians Fall Short Of Angels Despite Bieber's Gutsy Effort

Cleveland drops a fourth straight game as it opens a week-long west coast trip.

Baseball.

Sometimes, the game will drive you nuts. Monday night's game probably wasn't good for you if you take blood pressure medication.

The Guardians quickly squandered their only opportunity with a runner in scoring position and came up empty in a 3-0 loss to the Los Angeles Angels. It marked Cleveland's fourth loss in a row.

Shane Bieber was absolutely cruising, and despite the fact the Guardians offense had consisted almost entirely of Major League debutant Richie Palacios' pair of base hits, Taylor Ward hit a fly ball that barely got past Myles Straw's leaping, outstretched glove in right-center for a solo homer. 

That gave the Angels a 1-0 lead in the fifth.

The Guardians were primed to respond with their first scoring chance all night long. After Amed Rosario doubled and Jose Ramirez walked, Cleveland had runners at first and second with nobody out in the top of the sixth.

Unfortunately, Franmil Reyes swung and missed at a fastball inside on a 3-0 count, then accidentally hit a check swing foul ball to bring the count full, before swinging through strike three.

Franmil Reyes is a very strong man pic.twitter.com/6igQWkV7bP

— Alex Fast (@AlexFast8) April 26, 2022

Josh Naylor grounded into an inning-ending double play and the promising opportunity with the heart of the order was quickly squandered.

It looked like that missed chance was going to bite the Guardians quickly, but Shane Bieber absolutely refused to let it happen.

Mike Trout led off the bottom of the sixth by hitting a check-swing triple. Ridiculous.

Mike Trout really just got a triple on a check swing 😅pic.twitter.com/JxO23005v1

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) April 26, 2022

But with the infield pulled in, Bieber induced back-to-back ground outs to second baseman Andres Gimenez, issued a walk and then got Jo Adell to fly out to got out of the sixth inning unscathed.

Bieber is certainly to be commended for a gutsy effort, but unfortunately it wouldn't be enough to earn a win. Ward hit a 2-run home run on Bieber's 100th pitch of the night in the bottom of the seventh and knocked Cleveland's ace out of the game after 6.1 innings. He gave up three runs on seven hits with two walks and six K's.

It's pretty frustrating to lose a game during which you hold Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout to a combined 1-for-8 with only that excuse-me-triple, but sometimes that's how it goes.

Notably, Cleveland reliever Bryan Shaw made his 700th career MLB appearance on Monday night. Last year, he led all Major League relievers with a career-high 81 appearances, breaking his previous club record of 80 (2014). He is now fourth in club history in games pitched (466), ahead of Bob Lemon and behind Willis Hudlin (475 games), all in relief (most in club history). Shaw also leads MLB in games played since 2012 (667).

Tuesday night's game is set for 9:38 Eastern Time. Here's your pitching matchup:

• RHP Triston McKenzie (0-1, 2.38) vs. LHP Patrick Sandoval (0-0, 0.00)

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