MINNEAPOLIS – One day after Joey Cantillo ironed out some kinks against the Twins, Tanner Bibee took the mound at Target Field on Sunday and got back to basics in a big way.
Bibee allowed two runs on four hits over 6 2/3 innings and Cleveland batters blasted three home runs as the Guardians took the rubber match of their three-game weekend series in Minnesota with a 9-2 victory.
The two-man turnaround couldn’t have come at a better time for the Guardians, who are in the thick of the pennant race trying to chase down the White Sox for the AL Central title while also trying to hold off the likes of Toronto, Baltimore and Texas for the third AL Wild Card spot.
Much like Cantillo, Bibee was coming off two shaky starts in a row, allowing 10 earned runs in just 8 1/3 innings against Toronto and Baltimore. But he got right against the Twins with an efficient and effective outing. At one point, he retired 10 in a row before Trevor Larnach hit a leadoff homer in the seventh inning.
Meanwhile, the last time the Guardians faced Twins starter Joe Ryan, they hit six home runs off the two-time All-Star in just four innings. Steven Kwan served notice that it might not have been a fluke when he hit Ryan’s second pitch of the day into the flower boxes in the right-field overhang. It was Kwan’s eighth career leadoff homer.
Jo Adell matched Kwan’s feat in the third, taking Ryan deep on the second pitch of the inning to put Cleveland on top 2-0. According to Statcast, the 116.8 mph rocket to left was the hardest-hit home run by a Cleveland player since 2015.
Bibee pitched around a walk in each of the first two innings before giving up a run in the third on Luke Keaschal’s infield single and an opposite-field double by Kody Clemens that cut the Guardians’ lead to 2-1.
But the Guardians pushed the lead to 4-1 in the fourth, cashing in after Ryan hit Brayan Rocchio on the foot with one out. Rocchio stole second and scored on Kwan’s double. Travis Bazzana then delivered Kwan with a two-out single.
Bazzana did even more damage in the sixth with a two-out, two-run homer off reliever Travis Adams.