CLEVELAND – Shane Bieber pitched out of some early trouble before extending his strikeout record and César Hernández hit a two-run homer, sending the Cleveland Indians to a 3-2 win over the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night.
Bieber (4-2) struck out eight and has now fanned at least that many in 20 consecutive starts, a major league mark he builds on every time out.
The right-hander's streak was in jeopardy, but he got Nick Martini for strikeout No. 8 in the seventh. The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner wasn’t as sharp as usual and needed a career-high 121 pitches to go 6 2-3 innings.
James Karinchak finished the seventh for Bieber and worked the eighth. Emmanuel Clase gave up two singles in the ninth, but got Matt Duffy to bounce into a