Chang pushes back against racist messages
Cleveland infielder Yu Chang pushed back against racist comments he received after committing a pivotal error in his team's 4-3 loss to the Chicago White Sox on Monday night.
Chang, who is Taiwanese, tried to start an inning-ending double play in the bottom of the ninth inning in Chicago. Instead, his throw from first base glanced off baserunner Yasmani Grandal's helmet, enabling Nick Madrigal to score the winning run for the White Sox.
Tuesday morning, Chang posted to his Instagram story and Twitter account a handful of racist messages sent to him and added his own rebuke:
"I accept all comments, everyone has their freedom of speech but THESE RACIST COMMENTS ARE NOT NECESSARY," Chang wrote, adding the hashtag #Stopasianhate.
Hate crimes against Asian Americans rose by nearly 150% in 2020, according to the Center For the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino. Those numbers do not include the March 2021 shootings at spas in Georgia that killed eight, including six women of Asian descent. Advocates have called for the Justice Department to classify the killings as hate crimes.
Masterful Bieber
In a game billed as a pitcher's duel between himself and Chicago's Lucas
Giolito on Tuesday, Cleveland pitcher Shane Bieber was masterful, pitching nine scoreless innings, allowing just three hits and one walk while striking out 11 batters. Giolito lived up to his end of the hype as well, going seven innings without a run and striking out eight.
But considering that last year Bieber put together maybe the best statistical 60-game stretch in recent memory, manager Terry Francona is running out of words to describe his ace.
"I thought he was tremendous," Francona said postgame. "You pick the adjective and you can put my name to it. I thought that was one of the bestpitched games on both sides that I've seen in a long time. Those are two of the best. Biebs did a heckuva job."
Bieber (1-1, 2.11 ERA) has struck out 35 batters through his first three starts for the second season in a row. Only two players have topped that total in league history: Nolan Ryan set the record in 1973 with 37, and Gerrit Cole fanned 36 in 2018.
Bieber, 25, has also now tallied eight or more strikeouts in his past 15 starts, pushing past Corey Kluber's franchise record of 14 such games. Bieber is tied with Pedro Martinez and Randy Johnson for the third-longest such streak in MLB history. Johnson (17 games) and Martinez (16 games) are also first and second, respectively, on the league's all-time list.
The Akron Beacon Journal contributed to this report.