CLEVELAND GUARDIANS NOTES:
BULLPEN COMES UP BIG TO FORCE RUBBER MATCH
The Cleveland Guardians executed a crisp 4-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night at Target Field, evening the series at one win apiece…Cleveland is 3-2 entering the finale of this 6-game road trip through Toronto (2-1) and Minnesota (1-1, one-to-play)…Guardians are seeking back-to-back series victories for the first time since July 21-23 vs. PHI/July 24-26 vs. KC, first on the road since June 27-29 at KC/June 30-July 2 at ChC…club has gone 12-10-4 over last 26 series (.500/42-42 record since May 26). Cleveland’s offense plated each of the games first 3 runs, scoring single tallies in 3 consecutive frames against Twins right-hander Pablo Lopez (6.0IP, 8H, 3R-ER, 3BB, 5SO, HR, 2WP, 97 pitches)… BO NAYLOR homered (7) for the third straight game, drilling a 2-out solo shot to CF in the 2nd inning to open the scoring…a leadoff single from JOSÉ RAMÍREZ in the 3rd inning, followed by KOLE CALHOUN’s double, set up a run-scoring wild pitch by Lopez…a pair of singles sandwiched around a walk in the 4th loaded the bases ahead of Calhoun’s run-scoring groundout to build a 3-0 advantage…Royce Lewis also homered for a third consecutive game – his 5th in a 7-game span – putting Minnesota on the board with a solo shot to start the bottom of the 4th…that was the lone tally surrendered by HUNTER GADDIS (3.0IP, 4H, 1R-ER, BB, 2SO, HR, 71 pitches), who was rushed into relief duty after starter GAVIN WILLIAMS (1.0IP, BB, 30 pitches) exited with right-knee discomfort prior to the 2nd inning…WILL BRENNAN delivered a 2-out RBIsingle in the 7th to make it 4-1…Michael Taylor tacked on a one-out solo homer (20) in the the 9th before EMMANUEL CLASE notched his MLB-leading (tied) 35th save. Cleveland (63-70) sits in 2nd place in AL Central standings, 6.0 games behind 2nd-place Minnesota (69-64) & 3.5 games ahead of 3rd-place Detroit (-9.5G, 59-73)…despite winning 3 of last 5, Guardians have dropped 8 of 13, 19 of 30, 42 of 84 and 64 of last 118 overall since starting year 9-6.
TARGET IN SIGHT
The Cleveland Guardians enter Wednesday’s matinee trailing the Minnesota Twins by 6.0 games for the AL Central lead, with 4 games remaining between the clubs…Cleveland has won 5 of its 9 matchups against Minnesota this season…during the Terry Francona era, the Guards are 102-88 against the Twins and 53-44 at Target Field…since the start of 2022, the Guardians have won 9 of 15 matchups at Target Field…overall Cleveland is 1,188-1,043 all-time against Minnesota. The Guardians have won their last three rubber matches on the road, most recently taking the third game of the series against Toronto on Sunday…Cleveland won 10-7 behind a 4-run 11th inning, powered by a 2-run double from KOLE CALHOUN and a 2-run home run from RAMÓN LAUREANO…the club is 4-2 in road rubber matches this season and 10-9 overall…a win today would give Cleveland back-to-back series wins for the time since the club won 2 of 3 against both the Philadelphia Phillies and the Kansas City Royals from July 21-26.
TODAY’S STARTER – #61 TANNER BIBEE RHP
BIBEE ON THE ROAD
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2023 5-1 3.94 11 11 61.2 66 27 27 20 58
Career 5-1 3.94 11 11 61.2 66 27 27 20 58
BIBEE’S MLB CAREER
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2023 10-3 3.01 21 21 119.2 107 42 40 37 117
Career 10-3 3.01 21 21 119.2 107 42 40 37 117
TODAY’S START
The 24-year-old right-hander is scheduled to make his 22nd career start, 12th on the road, in the finale of this 3-game set with the Minnesota Twins…has faced Minnesota once before, not factoring into the decision in a 7-6 defeat on June 1 at Target Field (5.0IP, 6H, 3R/ER, 1BB, 6SO)…is 1-2 with a 4.97 ERA (14ER/25.1IP) in 5 starts against the AL Central this season. Bibee ranks among MLB rookie starting pitchers (min 65.0IP) in win percentage (.769, 1st), ERA (3.01, 3rd), innings pitched (119.2IP, 3rd) and HR/9 (0.98, 3rd)…he and HOU’s J.P. France are the only rookies to win 7 straight decisions this season. He was originally selected by Cleveland in the 5th round (156th overall) of the 2021 MLB Draft out of Cal State Fullerton… entered the 2023 season as Cleveland’s #5 prospect according to MLB.com…he is starting on 4 days’ rest; is 3-0 with a 3.77 ERA (12ER/28.2IP) in 5 starts on 4 days’ rest.
LAST TIME OUT
Bibee last toed the rubber on August 25 in a 5-2 victory over Toronto at Rogers Centre…he earned his 10th career victory, allowing 2 runs (earned) on 6 hits with one walk and 5 strikeouts over 6.0 innings of work…after retiring 3 of the 4 hitters he faced in the 1st, George Springer led off the 2nd with a solo home run, but Bibee retired 3 of the final 4 in the frame…following a 1-2-3 3rd, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. started the 4th with a single…Matt Chapman hit a 2-out double, but Guerrero Jr. was thrown out at home… following an Alejandro Kirk leadoff double in the 5th, he retired 3 in a row to end the inning…Bibee retired 3 of 4 hitters in the 6th frame to complete his outing, the lone blemish coming from a Guerrero Jr. solo home run.
MINNESOTA TWINS NOTES:
THE TWINS: Have gone 4-2 through six games on their seven-game homestand, going 3-1 vs. Texas over the weekend, followed by splitting the first two games with the Guardians the last two nights…today, Minnesota will complete the homestand with the three-game series finale against the Guardians…after today’s game, the Twins will travel to Texas for an off-day tomorrow then begin a six-game road trip with three against the Rangers over the weekend then three against the Guards from Monday-Wednesday…the Twins have gone 40-28 at home and 29-36 on the road. The Twins have gone 19-9 in their last 28 home games, dating back to June 21.
GUARDS ‘PEN TOUGH ON TWINS: The Twins lost to the Guardians last night at Target Field by a score of 4-2, evening the series at 1-1…Pablo López (9-7) was the starter and loser, allowing three runs on eight hits in 6.0 innings pitched, with three walks and five strikeouts… the offense recorded seven hits, two from both Max Kepler and Michael A. Taylor…Taylor hit his 20th home run of the season and Royce Lewis hit his ninth home run, and third in as many days…Carlos Correa went 0-for-4, snapping his 19-game on-base streak…Minnesota also went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on base.
ON GUARD: The Twins are playing the Guardians for the 10th of 13 times in 2023…the Twins are 4-5 vs. the Guards this season…these two will meet next week for a final three-game series from September 4-6 at Progressive Field. Since 2022, 22 of the 28 games have been decided by three runs-or-less and 13 by one run. Max Kepler has 22 career home runs vs. Cleveland, his personal most vs. any opponent. The Twins have homered 12 times against Cleveland pitching this season, second most in baseball, trailing only Chicago-AL (17).
SERIES CONVERSATIONS: The Twins are seeking their 21st series victory this season…they are 20-17-5 in series play in 2023, going 12-6-3 at home and 8-11-2 on the road…Twins have gone 8-7 in rubber games this season. Entering today, the Twins have gone 10-6-2 in their last 18 series, dating back to their June 23-25 series at Detroit. AA win tonight would give the Twins their first series victory vs. the Guardians since taking two of three games from May 13-15, 2022 at Target Field…Twins have gone 0-5-1 in head-to-head series play against Cleveland since.
STARTING PITCHER – #54 SONNY GRAY
Making his 274th career appearance and 265th career start…also his 27th start/appearance this season. Owns the fourth-lowest ERA (3.06) among qualified American League pitchers, trailing NYY’s Gerrit Cole (2.95), SEA’s Luis Castillo (3.01) and BAL”s Kyle Bradish (3.03); ranks sixth in baseball. Facing Cleveland for the third time this season…is 0-1, 4.63 ERA (11.2 IP, 6 ER) with three walks and eight strikeouts in his two previous starts… is 6-5, 3.66 ERA (93.1 IP, 38 ER) with 34 walks and 91 strikeouts in 17 career start against the Guardians. Acquired by the Twins on March 13, 2022 in a trade with the Cincinnati Reds, along with right-handed pitcher Francis Peguero, in exchange for right-handed pitcher Chase Petty.
LAST TIME OUT: Earned his seventh win of the season in his start on August 25 vs. Texas…pitched a season-high-tying 7.0 innings and allowed one run on six hits (1 HR), with zero walks and four strikeouts in a 12-2 Twins’ victory; marked the Twins’ largest margin of victory over the Rangers since a 15-5 win on July 10, 2016 in Texas…allowed his lone run on a solo home run to Mitch Garver to lead off the second inning…retired 17 of the final 22 batters he faced after the homer…relieved by Cole Sands who pitched 2.0 innings and allowed one run (unearned run) with one strikeout…allowed a single to Corey Seager in the eighth inning, Seager advanced to second on a passed ball…permitted an RBI single to Nathaniel Lowe to score Seager. Has pitched at least 6.0 innings in seven-straight starts…is 3-2, 2.82 ERA (44.2 IP, 14 ER) with seven walks and 45 strikeouts in those games…marks his longest streak as a Twin and his longest since a nine-start streak from June 25-August 15, 2017 with Oakland and New York-AL (career high is 13 in 2015 with Oakland).
BACK HOME: Gray is making his third-consecutive home start…marks his 14th home start of the season; is 4-3, 3.05 ERA (76.2 IP, 26 ER) with 22 walks and 78 strikeouts in his 13 prior home outings…has allowed three-or-fewer earned runs in 11 of his 13 home starts this season; yielded six runs in 6.0 innings on July 8 vs. Baltimore and four runs in 6.2 innings on August 19 vs. Pittsburgh…also has six quality starts at home this year…is 8-5, 2.87 ERA (144.1 IP, 46 ER) with 47 walks and 156 strikeouts in 26 home starts since becoming a Twin. Owns the third-lowest ERA at home since 2022 among American League pitchers with at least 25 home starts in that span, trailing Shohei Ohtani (2.24) and Shane McClanahan (2.75)…also owns the seventh-lowest opponent batting (.222). Owns the fifth-lowest ERA at home this season among American League pitchers with at least 13 starts at home.
RIGHT WAY: Gray has seen more success against right-handed hitters as opposed to lefthanded hitters this season…Gray has held righties to a .212 (63-for-297) batting average with 88 strikeouts as opposed to lefties who are batting .247 (66-for-267) with 63 strike- outs…allowed four hits to lefties (4-for-12 with 3 doubles) in his last start on August 25 vs. Texas, righties went 2-for-14 with one home run (Mitch Garver)…since becoming a Twin, lefties are slashing .228/.282/.336 against him while righties are batting .226/.302/.331. Owns the fifth-lowest OPS against righties (.571) among qualified pitchers this season (3rd best in the American League).
