Shane Bieber Bounces Back, Guardians Take Series Opener From Yankees

The Cleveland Guardians beat the New York Yankees 3-2 after a rocky first inning from Shane Bieber.

It's the rematch that Cleveland Guardians have been waiting for since last October when the New York Yankees eliminated them from the playoffs in the ALDS.

It doesn't feel exactly the same with New York dealing with a number of injuries, but a victory over the Yankees will always be great! That's what the Guardians did in the series opener beating them with a final score of 3-2.

The Yankees got on the board first after loading the bases with no outs in the top of the first. Giancarlo Stanton smoked a double, that looked like it was a home run off the bat, to take a 2-0 lead. New York had a clear gameplan of attack Shane Bieber early and often which worked to their advantage. 

However, Bieber settled down and locked in after this inning and ended up pitching 7.0 innings only allowing those two runs and five hits. 

Bieber's ability to bounce back after allowing plenty of traffic on the base path in the first inning is a testament to the pitcher and player he is. At no time during the inning or after the inning was Bieber hanging his head or losing his competitive fire.

This confidence is what allowed the Guardians to get back in the game and eventually get the win. 

Cleveland never had one big inning, but they just chipped away with hits until they got on the board. Will Brennan had a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the second which scored Andres Gimenez and Mike Zunino's double which scored Josh Bell to tie the game.

Zunino was Cleveland's most productive hitter in the order tonight, finishing the game with three doubles. He was robbed of another RBI after his final double got stuck in the netting in the left field wall.

I've never seen that happen at Progressive Field!

Cleveland added another run in the bottom of the seventh on a Josh Naylor sacrifice fly to take a 3-2 lead.

Josh Naylor's sac fly gives the @CleGuardians the lead!#ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/6KFlpzt8Bt

— Bally Sports Cleveland (@BallySportsCLE) April 11, 2023

Those three runs were enough to lead the Guardians to take the series opener against the Yankees and get the first win of the series. 

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Photo Credit © David Richard-USA TODAY Sports