CLEVELAND, Ohio — A recording of John Adams pounding his bass drum played in the background. The drag strip that is East Ninth Street featured one roaring motorcycle after another piercing the darkness.
The seats were empty, but one loud fan, from way outside the gate on the Home Run Porch, bellowed until his lungs gave out.
Welcome to opening night 2020 at Progressive Field. Welcome to Shane Bieber’s night.
Bieber opened the Indians season with a franchise record 14 strikeouts in a 2-0 victory over the Royals. The last Indians pitcher to come close to that many strikeouts on opening day was Gary Bell, who struck out 12 in 10 1/3 innings against the Tigers on April 19, 1960. Bieber struck out 14 in six scoreless innings.
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Hall of Famer Randy Johnson is the last pitcher to strike out 14 batters on opening day. The Big Unit did it for Seattle against the White Sox on March 31, 1996. Camilo Pascual holds the record with 15 for the Senators in 1960.
Opening night was 120 days late because of the coronavirus. Bieber (1-0, 0.00) was supposed to start that game as well on March 26 against Detroit. The layoff did not hurt him as he allowed four hits on 97 pitches.
“There were a lot of new things for everybody today,” said Bieber. “No fans in the stands. I thought I was prepared for it having practiced against your own team.
“But it’s different when you have another player step in the box that potentially you haven’t seen at all. There’s no fans in the stands and they’re pumping in crowd noise. It’s a little synthetic, but you get used to it and I fell into a nice little rhythm.”
The Royals, ravaged by the coronavirus, started lefty Danny Duffy. The Indians have not treated him well in his career, but Duffy had them popping up for 4 1/3 innings. Still, Duffy is 0-7 in his last eight starts against the Indians.
As soon as Duffy left, the Indians took a 2-0 lead.
Duffy hit Jordan Luplow with a pitch to start the fifth. Domingo Santana fouled out to first, but Roberto Perez singled through the middle to send Luplow to third. Scott Barlow relieved Duffy and Oscar Mercado greeted him with a single through the middle for a 1-0 lead as Perez went to third.
Cesar Hernandez doubled past third for his first official hit since signing with the Indians in December. Perez scored for a 2-0 lead and it looked like a big inning was at hand. That thought was reinforced when Barlow hit Jose Ramirez to load the bases with one out, but the middle of the lineup misfired.
Francisco Lindor struck out and Carlos Santana hit into a force play.
“We didn’t smack the ball all over the ballpark,” said manager Terry Francona. “We stayed up the middle and hit the ball the other way and got rewarded for it. I thought Roberto’s base running was huge. I don’t know how many catchers can go first to third like that and he was doing it right off the get go. That really helped us.”
It took Bieber a moment or two to find his footing in the first inning as he dealt with a rush of adrenaline. When he did, he rolled.
He started the game by hitting Whitt Merrifield, but Adalberto Mondesi bounced into a force play at second. Catcher Roberto Perez threw out Mondesi trying to steal second, but Jorge Soldier walked and Salvador Perez singled.
Bieber ended the inning by striking out Alex Gordon. From that point on he was locked in. Bieber, starting with Gordon’s strikeout, retired nine straight and 11 of the 12. Ten of those outs came on strikeouts.
“They made Shane work in his first inning and in the fifth,” said Francona. “But for him to get through the six with 97 pitches, that’s pretty good pitching. I don’t know how many strikeouts he had, but there was a bunch.”
When told Bieber set a franchise record with 14 strikeouts on opening day, Francona said, “OK, that’s a bunch.”
He found trouble in the fifth when Nicky Lopez blooped a single into center field with one out. Bubba Starling struck out, but Merrifield singled to right to send Lopez to third. Merrifield stole second, but Bieber struck out Mondesi to keep the game scoreless.
Mondesi’s strikeout was Bieber’s 12th through five innings.
Bieber’s last inning was the sixth and he struck out Perez and Gordon. Bieber’s ninth strikeout of the game may have been the most impressive because it included a little help from Perez. Ryan McBroom struck out to end the fourth, but the pitch got past Perez. He sprinted after it, making a sprawling stop and throw from the ground to record the out.
Adam Cimber, Nick Wittgren and Brad Hand combined on the four-hitter by holding the Royals scoreless over the last three innings. Hand pitched the ninth for the save.
Next
RHP Mike Clevinger will face Kansas City RHP Brady Singer, who is making his big-league debut, on Saturday at 5:10 p.m. SportsTime Ohio and WTAM will carry the game.
New Indians face masks for sale: Here’s where you can buy Cleveland Indians-themed face coverings for coronavirus protection, including a single mask ($14.99) and a 3-pack ($24.99). All MLB proceeds donated to charity.
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