Shane Bieber didn’t look like a pitcher who missed nearly the entire 2024 campaign and most of this season in his first start since April 2 of last year.
Bieber, acquired by the Toronto Blue Jays at the July 31 trade deadline, notched nine strikeouts while allowing one run and two hits over six innings in a 5-2 win over the Miami Marlins on Friday. He threw 87 pitches, 55 of them for strikes.
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The right-hander struck out Xavier Edwards and Jakob Marsee to begin his start and retired five of the first six Marlins batters he faced. He left a baseball in the middle of the strike zone to the seventh batter, and Javier Sanoja hit it out for a solo home run.
Bieber then retired the next 12 batters, striking out the side in the fourth. Marsee got the only other hit off the Blue Jays’ starter, hitting a changeup left in the middle of the zone for a single. Bieber then got Agustín Ramírez to fly out on a slider for his final out of the ballgame.
Toronto manager John Schneider couldn’t hide his glee afterward, beginning his postgame press conference by saying, “I’m a Belieber. I’ve got Bieber Fever.”
Mason Fluharty took over for Toronto in the seventh and retired two batters before Yariel Rodriguez finished the inning. Rodriguez gave up a home run to Maximo Acosta to lead off the eighth, leaving a fastball in the high outside corner of the zone.
From there, the Marlins didn’t generate any more offense.
The Blue Jays’ lineup made sure Bieber’s effort wasn’t wasted, providing him with three runs before he took the mound in the first inning. Daulton Varsho’s RBI double and a two-run single from Ty France spotted Bieber a 3-0 lead. Toronto added two more runs in the sixth, when Varsho crushed a Ryan Gusto cutter down the middle for his 14th homer of the season.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was again out of the Toronto lineup, missing his third consecutive game since leaving Monday’s contest with left hamstring inflammation.
Gusto allowed five runs and seven hits in six innings with one walk and no strikeouts. His ERA increased to 5.05, and his record dropped to 7-6 in 26 appearances (16 starts) this season. Josh Simpson and Valente Bellozo combined for three scoreless innings of relief, allowing only one hit for the Marlins (60-68).
The Blue Jays improved to 75-54 with the victory and now hold a five-game lead for first place in the AL East with the New York Yankees’ 1-0 defeat to the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox are in second at 70-59, while the Yankees are a half-game behind in third place.
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