CLEVELAND -- If you only went off the first batter Tanner Bibee faced on Tuesday night, you might have thought, "Oh, no, not again,¡± based on his early results in 2025. Bibee surrendered a homer to Yankees DH Ben Rice on his first pitch, which drew him into a tie for most home runs surrendered in MLB this season (eight).
¡°I feel like nine times out of 10, that pitch is either taken or popped up, ground ball,¡± Bibee said. ¡°He got it. It was a good swing. Definitely one of those things where I had to get back into it for sure.¡±
New York didn¡¯t do much more after that against the Guardians¡¯ right-hander, and on a night Cleveland needed a big-time performance, Bibee delivered. He threw his first quality start of the season in the Guardians¡¯ 3-2 win over the Yankees at Progressive Field, Cleveland's fifth straight win.
Bibee surrendered two runs on five hits and three walks over six innings. On a night Cleveland¡¯s bullpen was light and the club needed length from its starter, Bibee stepped up and threw 106 pitches (70 strikes). His performance kept the Guardians in the game before their go-ahead three-run rally in the bottom of the sixth.
¡°That was a gritty effort,¡± manager Stephen Vogt said.
Bibee entered Tuesday¡¯s outing with a 5.85 ERA in a four-start and 20-inning sample. He allowed three homers against the Orioles on Thursday and four against the Angels on April 5.
Vogt noted the home runs were in part a product of Bibee getting into bad counts and not having his best four-seam fastball command. That and the mechanics of his delivery were among Bibee¡¯s focal points between the start in Baltimore and Tuesday¡¯s.
Of the 39 four-seamers Bibee threw Tuesday, only eight were balls., compared to 16 out of 31 four-seamers against Baltimore.
¡°I feel like I threw a lot of strikes [on Tuesday],¡± Bibee said. ¡°I did walk three people, but at the same time, I felt like those were more quality. They definitely earned those, it felt like.¡±
The Yankees made Bibee work. They fouled off 30 of his pitches, and his pitch count stood at 84 through four innings. That was the last thing the Guardians wanted to see on a night when their bullpen was short-handed. Bibee¡¯s six-pitch fifth inning was exactly what the doctor ordered.
Aaron Judge hit a leadoff double in the sixth and scored on Jazz Chisholm Jr.¡¯s sacrifice fly, but Bibee got out of the inning without any further damage to keep the deficit at 2-0. His effort kept the Guardians within striking distance, despite their slow start at the plate against Yankees starter Will Warren.
¡°It would have been really easy for him to kind of crumble and say, ¡®Woe is me,¡¯ kind of a ¡®here we go again¡¯ kind of thing [after the homer],¡± left fielder Steven Kwan said. ¡°But he did what he did. He's our ace. He's our horse for a reason.¡±
The Guardians broke through in the sixth, when they sent nine hitters to the plate. Kwan started the rally with a single, and Nolan Jones followed with a single to chase Warren.
Kwan said the Guardians talked during the pitching change about potential looks they could steal on. After Jos¨¦ Ram¨ªrez struck out, Kwan and Jones took off on an 0-1 curveball that Mark Leiter Jr. spiked for a wild pitch. It got away from Yankees catcher J.C. Escarra, and Kwan never stopped running. He scored with a headfirst dive into home.
¡°I think instinct took over after that,¡± Kwan said. ¡°I've seen Jos¨¦ do it so many times, where he goes second to home. I just wanted to be like him one time. So I tried it out, and thankfully, it worked.¡±
The sixth was a quintessential example of ¡°Guards Ball.¡± Four of Cleveland¡¯s five hits in the inning were singles. Kyle Manzardo doubled on a sinking line drive that Judge came up short on with a diving attempt.
The Guardians get them on, push the pace and bring them in. And they enjoy when they can win that way.
¡°It¡¯s a fun way to play ball,¡± Kwan said. ¡°It gets everybody involved as well, and that kind of thing is contagious. One guy gets going, another guy gets rolling, and next thing you know, we got a little rally.¡±
A rally that Bibee paved the way for.
¡°Just unbelievably impressive by Tanner, and then the boys responded,¡± Vogt said. ¡°They came right back out and caused chaos, and we were able to finish it off.¡±