Tanner Bibee Had One Of His Worst Nights And Guardians Paid The Price

Tanner Bibee allowed seven runs and five homers in one of his worst starts of the season, and the Cleveland Guardians lost their series opener against the Washington Nationals 10-2 at Progressive Field on Monday night.

Bibee and the rest of the Guardians’ pitching staff combined to surrender 15 hits and six long balls in the ugly loss. Cleveland had won eight of their last nine heading into Monday’s pitching implosion.

They are still firmly in first place of the AL Central division with a 32-24 record, though.

Not much doing.#GuardsBall pic.twitter.com/vRaO08cWT7

— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) May 26, 2026

By the time the second inning ended, the Guardians were already down 6-0, and it was 7-1 after three. Bibee conceded eight hits, so despite his three strikeouts and no walks, he allowed too much hard contact to have a chance. He is now 0-7 on the season, and his ERA rose to 4.57.

Matt Festa and Logan Allen combined to throw six innings in which they gave up three runs, only one of which was earned. The former tossed two frames, and the latter, fresh off being called up from Triple-A, gave the Guardians some length, contributing four innings of just a couple of unearned runs and seven punchouts.

James Wood opened the game with a solo homer against Bibee, and a couple of batters later, Curtis Mead hit a two-run shot to make things 3-0. An inning later, Jacob Young greeted Cleveland’s starter with another homer, and, three hitters later, Luis Garcia hit another two-run shot to extend Washington’s lead to six.

Rhys Hoskins put the Guardians a bit close with a solo homer in the bottom of the second, but the Nats re-established the six-run lead in the top of the third with C.J. Abrams’ solo blast.

Angel Martinez hit an RBI double in the fourth, bringing Kyle Manzardo home, but Mead hit his second round-tripper of the night in the fifth, against Festa. Then, in the sixth, the Nationals took advantage of a fielding error by Jose Ramirez by punching in two more runs on a single by Garcia.

The Guardians were limited to seven hits, and none of their batters racked up more than one.

The team will try again on Tuesday, when Joey Cantillo faces former top prospect Cade Cavalli.