A shaky fourth inning cost Tanner Bibee and the Cleveland Guardians the win on Monday, as they dropped their series opener 6-2 at the hands of the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Up until that point, the right-hander was cruising over three scoreless frames.
Bibee ended up surrendering four runs (all earned) in four innings of work, allowing five hits and two walks while striking out four. He wound up getting the loss.
Game two tomorrow.#GuardsBall pic.twitter.com/q2A5a8mpNp
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) May 5, 2026
Cleveland actually scored first when David Fry belted his third home run of the season in the top of the second inning, with Travis Bazzana on board, against Michael Wacha. Fry’s OPS is suddenly flirting with .900, at .892.
Bobby Witt Jr. opened the Royals’ fourth with a home run to cut the Guardians’ lead to 2-1. Vinnie Pasquantino then doubled and scored on a Salvador Perez single that Bazzana probably should have been able to field cleanly at second base. Just like that, the game was tied.
A Carter Jensen single and a Lane Thomas walk loaded the bases with no outs. At that point, Bibee appeared to get out of the situation with consecutive strikeouts to Jac Caglianone and Isaac Collins, but Nick Loftin hit a two-run single to give the home team a 4-2 lead.
With Matt Festa pitching, Caglianone hit a solo homer in the bottom of the sixth to extend Kansas City’s lead to three runs, and Pasquantino drove in Witt with a single an inning later for their sixth run.
Wacha won the game for the Royals with seven solid innings in which he conceded just two runs, allowing four hits and one walk while fanning three. It was Cleveland’s second straight loss and their 18th of the year, as their record now falls to .500.
Fry was the only Guardian with two hits in the game, also scoring a run and driving in two. Cleveland’s offense was limited to just five hits on the night.
Gavin Williams will be on the mound for Cleveland on Tuesday, facing Noah Cameron, starting at 7:40 pm ET.
NEXT: Guardians' OF Prospect Is Enjoying A Bounceback Season In Minors
