Shane Bieber stumbles and 3 more things from Game 2 against the A’s

Shane Bieber had one bad throw that cost him a win against the Oakland A’s

The Cleveland Guardians looked like they were going to glide to a 5-1 record on the season early in their second encounter against the Oakland A’s. The Guards, now 4-2, on the season, had a one-run lead over the A’s and Bieber was rolling.

He had six good innings of work with seven strong strikeouts to his name, in fact, it was the strikeout that did Bieber in. During the bottom of the 6th inning, Bieber got A’s left fielder Seth Brown to strike out, but the pitch wasn’t on target and got away, allowing A’s second basemen Tony Kemp to score from third on what was ruled a wild pitch.

This allowed the game to get tied, allowing the A’s to eventually walk off against Jame Karinchack, who isn’t having the best start to his season. The Guardians lost to the A’s 4-3. and are now tied in the series with one game apiece.

On some positive news, Gabriel Arias got the start at first and hit his first home run of the season.

Four things from Game 2 of the A’s series we noticed

Shane Bieber had another lackluster outing

We by no means think this is the new normal for Shane Bieber, but we can’t help but notice he’s not as sharp as he has been. Now, he’s still one of the best pitchers on the team, but he hasn’t looked like the Bieber of old just yet. We’re not panicking yet, and neither should you.

Myles Straw’s hot start may not be a fluke

Myles Straw is off to a hot start and it has very little to do with how well he’s swinging his bat. He has six hits on the season and has a nice average of .333. That’s great, but he also has five bases on balls (walks) and four stolen bases this season as well. Straw has started off this season so hot that he’s more than doubled his rate of walks. That number will likely drop off, but seeing his patience at the plate has given me full confidence that Straw can be an asset. Let’s just hope he keeps this patience.

With Mike Zunino’s big power comes big swings

Mike Zunino and Josh Bell each have five strikeouts this year, and watching Zunino rack up three in one game was rough. These big swings come with big risks, and we’re seeing that on full display right now. Expect Zunino to break the 120-strikeout mark this year.

Saying ‘Hi’ to an old friend

Baseball is a sport I adore, and I adore so many former Guardians players. So when one of them comes back into the picture, it’s always a treat. That was the case last night as former Guardos first basemen Jesus Aguliar was in the lineup for the Oakland A’s. He didn’t have a great game, going 0-3 with a walk, but it was still nice to see him back in the box, even if it was against us.