Bieber Shows Promise in Return, Blue Jays Fall to Brewers

TORONTO – If his start against the Miami Marlins last week was a toe-dip back into big-league waters following reconstructive elbow surgery, Friday night against the Milwaukee brewers was more of a leap into the deep end for Shane Bieber.

And the right-hander swam, often impressively, rather than sank against the team with the best record in the majors. He matched Freddy Peralta zero-for-zero through five innings, allowing just three hits, before Andruw Monasterio led off the sixth by clipping a full-count slider that spun out over the heart of the plate, opening the scoring. At 92 pitches, Bieber left one on and one out for relievers Brendon Little and louis Varland, who let the frame unravel into a five-spot that was decisive in an eventual 7-2 Toronto Blue Jays loss.

Yet manager John Schneider saw more promise than the score suggests during a contest between division leaders, featuring duelling aces and October vibes for reasons beyond the brisk breeze that made 15 C feel more like 12 C, all before a sellout crowd of 41,390.

Asked what boxes Bieber still had left to check in his recovery, Schneider replied, “Nothing. At all. He’s as good as anyone in the game. … He’s got nothing to prove to me, to the league. He’s really good.”

Despite that, the Blue Jays (78-57) lost for a third time in five games, shrinking their lead atop the AL East to three games over the New York Yankees (75-60), who beat the white Sox 10-2 to leapfrog the Boston Red Sox (75-61), 4-2 losers to Pittsburgh, into second place.

Matters were nearly compounded when Daulton Varsho left the game in the seventh after being hit on the right hand by a 96.9 m.p.h. fastball from Aaron Ashby. But Schneider said X-rays revealed no fracture and the center-fielder will be re-examined Saturday.

A bullet seemingly dodged there, leaving the way Bieber responded to what was a challenging outing as the biggest takeaway.