Rookie Tanner Bibee tossed seven strong innings and Ramon Laureano ripped an RBI double in the second to fuel the host Cleveland Guardians to a 1-0 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday night.
Bibee (8-2) won his sixth straight decision and improved to 5-1 at home this season after allowing six hits and striking out six without walking a batter.
The 24-year-old fanned back-to-back hitters with the bases loaded in the third inning to preserve a slim one-run lead. He also worked around a one-out single in the fifth by Whit Merrifield by inducing an inning-ending double play.
Trevor Stephan worked around a two-out single by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to retire the side in the eighth inning. That bridged the gap to Emmanuel Clase, who stranded Daulton Varsho at third base by getting Alejandro Kirk to fly out to center field with two outs in the ninth inning.
Clase secured his 30th save of the season.
Laureano paid immediate dividends during his first at-bat since being claimed off waivers from the Oakland Athletics on Monday.
The Guardians mustered just three hits en route to snapping a three-game skid with just their second win in their last eight contests. Cleveland also avenged Monday’s 3-1 setback to Toronto in the opener of the four-game series.
Merrifield recorded three hits and Guerrero added two for the Blue Jays, who saw their four-game winning streak come to a halt.
Oscar Gonzalez led off the second inning by reaching on an infield single against Yusei Kikuchi (9-4) before scoring on Laureano’s RBI double down the left field line. Laureano was activated prior to the game after David Fry was placed on the 10-day injured list with a strained left hamstring.
Kikuchi sustained his first loss since July 1 despite permitting only one run on three hits while striking out six in seven innings. Genesis Cabrera relieved Kikuchi and struck out a batter without yielding a hit in a scoreless eighth inning.
–Field Level Media
