Tanner Bibee is producing a solid season for the Cleveland Guardians, certainly of late, and especially during an extended stretch at home.
However, he could face a serious challenge against the San Francisco Giants, who have won three consecutive series.
Bibee and the Guardians will look to improve their major-league-best 28-10 home mark when they open a weekend set with the Giants on Friday night.
Ben Lively, who earned the win with six solid innings in an 8-4 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Thursday, and Bibee (7-2, 3.47 ERA) have anchored Cleveland’s inconsistent rotation.
Bibee has a 3.15 ERA and has struck out 22 and issued just two walks while winning his last three starts. The right-hander gave up a pair of solo homers and two other hits over six innings of Cleveland’s 7-2 win over the Kansas City Royals on Saturday.
“(Saturday) was an adjust-and-figure-it-out kind of day,” Bibee said. “If I can do that on the fly, I have no reason to think that I can’t go out there and do that every single time.”
Bibee is 2-0 with a 1.48 ERA in his past four home starts after going 1-1 with an 8.05 ERA in his first four outings in Cleveland this year.
The American League Central-leading Guardians have lost only one home series this season. All-Star Steven Kwan homered for one of his three hits on Thursday, while brothers Josh and Bo Naylor each had two hits and two RBIs.
“Just understand what the game is going to present you. Follow the plan,” Bay Area-native Kwan, batting .367 with a career-high eight homers this season, told Bally Sports Cleveland.
Kwan is just 3-for-19 (.158) in five career games vs. San Francisco. Josh Naylor, however, owns a .326 career average against Giants, while All-Star teammate Jose Ramirez is a lifetime .314 hitter against them.
The Giants lost five straight games from June 18-23 but are 7-3 since. After taking three of four from the Chicago Cubs and two of three against the rival Los Angeles Dodgers, the Giants opened their current six-game road trip by winning two of three against the Atlanta Braves.
Ace Logan Webb allowed two runs over seven innings while Heliot Ramos and Matt Chapman homered during San Francisco’s 4-2 victory over the Braves on Thursday.
“We’re just having fun,” Chapman told NBC Sports Bay Area. “There’s a lot of baseball left. A lot of meaningful baseball.”
Chapman is batting .368 (14-for-38) with four homers and 12 RBIs in his past 10 games. While playing for the Toronto Blue Jays last season, he went 1-for-2 with a double against Bibee.
Ramos, meanwhile, is 9-for-20 with two homers and five RBIs in his past five contests.
San Francisco starting pitchers have a 3.53 ERA over the past 10 games, and the rotation will be bolstered soon. Kyle Harrison (ankle) is expected to return from the injured list to start on Saturday, while Blake Snell (groin) is slated to be activated during a homestand next week. However, the Giants had not named a starter for Friday night.
Giants right fielder Mike Yastrzemski is day-to-day after taking a pitch to the right elbow and exiting Thursday’s game.
–Field Level Media