CLEVELAND — It's been a bit of a rough road for Shane Bieber.
Following a Cy Young Award-winning campaign in 2020, his playoff debut did not go as planned, allowing seven runs in just 4 2/3 innings in that year's wild-card series against the New York Yankees. His 2021 was then cut short by a serious shoulder injury, which cost him more than half the season.
At this time a year ago, he was still rehabbing, looking to regain his form as Cleveland's undisputed ace.
Mission accomplished.
"It was a blast," Bieber said following the Guardians' 2-1 win Friday over the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 1 of the AL Wild Card Series.
Bieber, to put it mildly, was brilliant, allowing just three hits and one run while striking out eight over 7 2/3 innings of work. Cleveland needed every bit of it, too, as Tampa's Shane McClanahan matched him almost pitch-for-pitch by giving up just two runs over seven frames.
Bieber knows this was never a sure thing. After all, shoulder injuries are tricky thing for pitchers. That fact wasn't lost on him today.
"A lot of ups and downs, and that was a long portion of a down period," Bieber told reporters following the game. "Throughout the offseason, I was just looking forward to each and every opportunity."
He had made the most of those opportunities even before the playoffs began, finishing the regular season 13-8 and a 2.88 ERA across 200 total innings. Friday's outing may have been the best he looked all year, not even allowing a hit until Harold Ramirez led off the fifth with a single.
Does Bieber himself think he had a better outing this season?
"Probably," he answered, with a smile, "but I'll take it."
Bieber's only mistake came in the sixth with things still scoreless, when he gave up a solo homer to Rays No. 9 hitter Jose Siri. Luckily, the Guards' star hitter was able to pick him up in the bottom of the frame, as José Ramírez belted a two-run bomb that provided the eventual final margin.
"He's inevitable," Bieber said of J-Ram's heroics. "To do it right right away, that was huge. I know for me, personally, any pitcher will tell you that."
Bieber worked through the seventh and came back out for the eighth, retiring two more batters as the boisterous crowd chanted his name in a throwback to the 2019 All-Star Game. He was pulled after surrendering a single to pinch-hitter Isaac Paredes, and walked off the mound to a well-deserved standing ovation.
"It was great," Bieber said of the fans. "To hear that, to feed off that energy, it seemed like every time there were two strikes they were willing a strikeout, and that felt great."