Tanner Bibee did not get the win on Wednesday night. He never does. But after one of the finest pitching performances of his season, Stephen Vogt made sure everyone in the Comerica Park press box knew exactly who he thought made the difference in Cleveland’s 3-2 extra-inning victory over the Detroit Tigers.
Vogt held nothing back when describing Bibee’s effort.
“Tanner got the win. As much as he may not get it in the box score, but to give us 8 innings and to keep us in that game, the 1 run was really his only blemish, the leadoff walk there, and they made him pay for it. But Tanner, eight innings, did his job, kept us in that game. You know, we’re having a tough time scoring runs for Tanner so far this year, but credit to our guys who stayed in it, didn’t quit, got the ninth inning rally going. But Tanner was definitely the player of the game,” Vogt said.
He is pitching at a level that deserves wins. And he keeps walking away empty-handed because the offense has simply not shown up when he takes the ball.
The numbers through Wednesday’s start now show Bibee at 0-6 across 11 starts with a 3.75 ERA, 60 innings pitched, 52 strikeouts and a 1.250 WHIP.
Wednesday’s outing was Bibee’s best of the season by a significant margin. Eight full innings, one run allowed, four hits, five strikeouts and just one walk. He retired 18 of the first 20 batters he faced, executed a critical pickoff in the eighth inning that Vogt credited to bench coach Tony Americh’s call, and gave his team every possible opportunity to win. The lone run that scored against him came directly from that one leadoff walk in the seventh, which Vogt explicitly called his only blemish.
The Guardians have gone scoreless in five of Bibee’s 11 starts this season and entered Wednesday’s game giving him just 1.38 runs of support per nine innings, the lowest mark in all of baseball. Patrick Bailey summed it up perfectly after the game when he said the team is probably more frustrated about the situation than Bibee himself is, and that the pitcher has given his teammates plenty of chances to get him wins.
The win streak now stands at five games. Cleveland is 29-22 and in first place in the AL Central. The pitching continues to be exceptional. And somewhere in all of that, the most deserving winless pitcher in baseball keeps walking off the mound having done his job, waiting for the offense to finally hold up its end of the deal.
NEXT: Guardians Secure Comeback Win Over Tigers To Keep Streak Alive
