Tanner Bibee pitched into the sixth inning, Josh Naylor hit a two-run homer and the Cleveland Guardians salvaged the finale of a three-game series against the visiting Colorado Rockies with a 4-1 victory on Wednesday afternoon.
Bibee (1-0) allowed one run on six hits with no walks and eight strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings in his MLB debut. Eli Morgan and Trevor Stephan followed in relief before Emmanuel Clase worked around a two-out single in the ninth for his eighth save.
Jose Ramirez, Andres Gimenez, Oscar Gonzalez and Naylor had two hits apiece for Cleveland, which concluded its six-game homestand with a 2-4 mark.
After being outscored 11-1 in the first two games of the series, Cleveland claimed an early lead in the finale against Rockies starter German Marquez (2-2). Amed Rosario drew a two-out walk in the bottom of the first and scored on Naylor’s blast to right-center field.
Cleveland added to its lead with one out in the fourth inning on back-to-back doubles by Gimenez and Gonzalez. Will Brennan then lined out before Marquez exited the game with an apparent arm injury.
Marquez allowed three runs on six hits with one walk and four strikeouts over 3 2/3 innings. The 28-year-old right-hander was pitching for the first time since April 10 after landing on the injured list with a right forearm strain.
Bibee, one of the organization’s top pitching prospects, was recalled after posting a 1.76 ERA in three starts for Triple-A Columbus. He recorded five consecutive strikeouts at one point and threw 60 of his 91 pitches for strikes.
The Rockies pushed a run across as the lone Blemish against Bibee in the sixth when Jurickson Profar hit a leadoff double and scored on Kris Bryant’s single. Bryant had two hits for the Rockies, which dropped to a National League-worst 8-18 record.
Cleveland loaded the bases with one out in the seventh, but Brad Hand struck out Naylor and Josh Bell to escape the jam.
The Guardians added an insurance run in the eighth when Brennan’s groundout scored Gimenez, who was hit by a pitch to begin the inning.
–Field Level Media