'I feel good now': Tanner Bibee leaves efficient start with cramps, Guardians rally to win

CLEVELAND — Lower extremity cramping Wednesday night got in the way of another efficient start by Guardians pitcher Tanner Bibee .

The Guardians ace pitched five innings and limited the Detroit Tigers to one run until his quads and hamstrings started to bother him.

Guardians manager Stephen Vogt , pitching coach Carl Willis, athletic trainer Jeff Desjardins and teammates checked on Bibee as he tried to warm up for the top of the sixth inning, but the discomfort forced Bibee out of the game.

No worries.

Guardians pitchers Scott Barlow, Tim Herrin, Hunter Gaddis and Emmanuel Clase delivered in relief, and Bo Naylor, Steven Kwan and Josh Naylor came through with key singles to give the Guardians a 2-1 win at Progressive Field.

"I feel good now," Bibee said with a smile about 20 minutes after the game. "Of course. Of course. I feel fine now."

Bibee acknowledged he received an IV after the game.

"He had some cramping," Vogt said. "He probably could have got through it, but you just can't take a risk of him hurting something or doing something like that. He fought me pretty good out there, but I just had to make a decision. Letting him go further could have been a danger to him."

Bibee said he dealt with cramping his final college season at Cal State Fullerton in 2021 and the cramping has been more of nuisance during the past month.

"Ever since the Seattle start [on June 19], I have cramped up a little bit every single time, but this time everything kind of cramped up," Bibee said.

Bibee struck out four, walked one and allowed two hits and one earned run in five innings. The run came via a solo home run by Matt Vierling with two outs in the first inning.

"I felt like I executed all of my pitches," Bibee said. "... Executing pitches obviously is the name of the game every time I go out there."

Said Vogt: "[Bibee] was attacking the zone. He was getting weak contact. He was getting early [in the count] outs."

Bo Naylor lauded Bibee's ability to have "really quick innings."

"It was great the way he went out there today pre-cramp," Bo Naylor said. "... He threw the first [warmup] pitch [ahead of the sixth] and I could tell he took a little bit off with how he usally throws it. Then, I took a peak into the bench for no particular reason and saw the trainer heading out with Vogt. I looked over [to Bibee] and he is doing these movements to release some tension or some stress in some areas."

Scott Barlow, Tim Herrin, Hunter Gaddis, Emmanuel Clase solid in relief for Guardians bullpen

Barlow, Herrin, Gaddis and Clase combined to pitch four scoreless innings, allowing no hits.

"[Bibee] set the tone for sure," Barlow said. "He looked really, really good, so it is easy to feed off of that. Every guy that came in today was nails."

Bo Naylor praised the "type of competitive nature" that the Guardians relievers "bring to the game."

"At any moment, I feel like everyone in that bullpen is ready for their name to be called to go out there and compete," Bo Naylor said. "I know everyone in the locker room is really grateful for the work that they put in behind the scenes and the way they prepare."

Vogt said the Guardians relievers were "huge" Wednesday night.

"The preparation that they put in and that [bullpen coach Brad Goldberg] has them ready to go, no panic, just take your time, you have got plenty of time to get loose," Vogt said. "... Scotty came in and was outstanding just right along with the rest of the bullpen."

Barlow struck out one in 1.1 innings, Gaddis struck out three in one inning and Clase had a strikeout and a walk en route to his 31st save.

"These are the kind of games that get you rolling, get you the win streaks and the series wins, especially against a team that has been hot like Detroit," Bibee said. "I think that is a really good win.

"... I feel like everytime we are tied or winning when we give the bullpen the ball, it feels like it's a win."

Bo Naylor provides spark for Guardians offense

Bo Naylor walked twice, hit a single, scored twice and stole a base.

"Bo was willing to make a swing-change in season, which is not easy for anybody to do," Vogt said. "He comes to the park everyday wanting to get better. That is what I love most about Bo.

"... He is more balanced, he is shorter and he is quicker to the ball. He is not missing pitches that he was missing earlier in the year because he is in a good hitting position. He had three phenomenal at-bats tonight and got us going stealing a base after catching eight innings."

Kwan singled in Bo Naylor in the fifth and Josh Naylor singled in his brother in the eighth with the winning run.

"This guy is the ultimate competitor," Vogt said of Josh Naylor. "He is our guy and he is going to come through for us and he has time and time again. ... Naylz is a special guy. You just love the fire that he has."

Michael Beaven can be reached by email at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com and is on Twitter at @MBeavenABJ .

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: 'I feel good now': Tanner Bibee leaves efficient start with cramps, Guardians rally to win