The Cleveland Guardians picked up a pivotal sweep over the weekend against the reeling Minnesota Twins, knocking their rivals under the .500 mark and putting them at 4.5 games back.
Leading the charge was their ace, Shane Bieber, who looks to be back to his old Cy Young ways.
The right-hander won the Cy Young Award in the American League back in 2020 with a 1.63 ERA in 12 starts.
But yesterday, he looked like his old self, tossing 6.1 innings of one-run ball and lowering his ERA on the season to 2.94.
In his last nine starts, he’s been nothing short of dominant, going 6-2 with an ERA of 1.75 and a WHIP of 0.89 over 61.2 innings, while striking out 68 batters and walking just nine.
Bieber has been ins(h)anely good recently. 📈#ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/SOetjQaDTL
— Bally Sports Cleveland (@BallySportsCLE) September 11, 2022
Bieber Continues His Run
This is the Bieber that fans of the Guardians are used to seeing.
This is the guy that the Guardians are accustomed to counting on when big games take place, and yesterday, he came through again, putting a dagger in the hearts of the slumping Twins and helping to deliver a pivotal sweep for the Guardians, who also gained a game on the resurgent Chicago White Sox after their loss on Sunday.
The Guardians now find themselves at 73-65 with a 2.5-game lead in the American League Central, with a magic number of 21, thanks in large part to the dominance of Bieber.
Should the Guardians end up winning the AL Central, it’s hard to imagine somebody other than Bieber being the Game 1 starter in the Wild Card round.
Bieber delivered when the Guardians needed him most, as he has for the vast majority of his career.
A performance like that could help energize the Guardians as they go for their first division title since 2018.
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