Bieber takes 1st career loss on road vs. Sox

CHICAGO -- All good things must come to an end eventually. And on Monday night, Indians starter Shane Bieber had to say goodbye to a win streak that he’s held since his Major League debut last season.

After beginning his career with nine wins and no losses in 14 starts away from Progressive Field, the 23-year-old took his first loss as a visitor as the Indians fell, 5-2 to the White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field. His streak was snapped just one victory shy of tying the modern-era record of most consecutive winning decisions on the road to start a career, which is held by Larry Jansen, Earl Wilson and Wes Stock.

“Tonight, I didn’t do my job,” Bieber said. “So just need to be better, and that one’s on me.”

• Box score

Just six days after facing each other in Cleveland, Bieber and White Sox right-hander Reynaldo Lopez squared off again on Monday in Chicago. While the Indians' right-hander worked the same number of innings (6 1/3) as he did last time out, the results weren’t quite the same. Bieber was charged with five runs on seven hits and threw 101 pitches.

“I think it could go either way,” Bieber said when asked if pitchers or hitters have an advantage of seeing each other days apart. “I feel like both sides know each other a little bit better and it’s just a matter of playing the game and executing pitches, which I didn’t do.”

He allowed a career-high four home runs and has given up at least one long ball in each of his last five starts. The first-inning blast by Jose Abreu was the first run Bieber allowed at Guaranteed Rate Field in his career.

“It’s kind of a weird line,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “I think he only gave up like … seven hits, but four were home runs, all solos. A couple of them I thought he didn’t locate. A couple I thought sometimes you tip your hat when a kid goes and hits a changeup and hits it the other way. That’s good hitting.”

As the Tribe’s offense remains in a bit of a funk, the starting rotation continues to feel more and more pressure to be as perfect as possible on the mound. And while the weight of the team is falling squarely on the starting pitchers’ shoulders, the coaching staff doesn’t seem to be too worried about how they will handle it.

“Worry? No. I mean, think about it? Yeah,” Francona said. “[Pitching coach] Carl [Willis] and I talk about it a little bit. We think our guys are team-orientated enough that they know. I mean, it’s a team game, and I include myself in that. When we’re not good enough, it’s everybody.”

Although Cleveland entered the two-game series against the White Sox with a 14-3 record when scoring first, the club added its fourth defeat to that mark after Francisco Lindor led off the game with a solo homer. The Tribe’s shortstop was responsible for the team’s two runs, picking up his second RBI in the third on a sacrifice fly.

“[Bieber’s outing] is more glaring just because we’re not scoring runs in bunches and our pitches know that and they’ve been good about it,” Francona said. “They know they’ve got to keep people off the board right now.”