The Cleveland Guardians defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks, 7-4, for the second victory in a three-game series after the teams split the first two games. Shane Bieber earned the win, striking out eight batters in six innings, allowing two runs on four hits, and retiring the first ten batters. Arizona's Tommy Henry took the loss in his MLB debut, giving up four runs and hits in five innings.
Myles Straw started the scoring with a sacrifice fly in the second inning. Amed Rosario crushed a 450-foot three-run home run in the fifth inning to extend Cleveland's lead to 4-0. He also doubled in the seventh, then scored on a Jose Ramirez single.
Arizona's Alek Thomas broke up Bieber's perfect game with a double in the fourth inning and cut the lead in half with a two-run home run in the sixth. Oscar Gonzalez responded with a solo home run in the bottom of the frame, and barely missed another with an RBI double off the 19-foot wall in the seventh, immediately after Jose Ramirez delivered an RBI single.
Diamondbacks' Geraldo Perdomo hit a two-run home run in the ninth to cut the lead to 7-4, but Arizona's rally ended there when Eli Morgan recorded the Guardians' 15th strikeout of the afternoon.
For the Guardians, Steven Kwan extended his hitting streak to 17 games, and Tyler Freeman collected a walk in his first career plate appearance and a single for his first base hit.
Cleveland improves to 54-50 and remains one game behind the AL Central-leading Minnesota Twins (55-49). The Guardians will host the Houston Astros (68-38) for a four-game series starting tomorrow at 7:10. The Astros enter this series with MLB's third-best record.