Tanner Bibee, Guardians relievers strike out 15 in a 4-2 victory over the Twins
Cleveland Guardians catcher Bo Naylor (23) and relief pitcher Emmanuel Clase, right, hug after their win over the Minnesota Twins of a baseball game Thursday, April 4, 2024, in Minneapolis. Credit: AP/Abbie Parr
MINNEAPOLIS — Tanner Bibee and the Cleveland bullpen had 15 strikeouts to put the clamps on Minnesota's bats, Steven Kwan had three hits and the Guardians spoiled the Twins' home opener with a 4-2 victory Thursday.
Bibee (1-0) matched his career high with nine strikeouts, allowing one run over 5 1/3 innings. Four relievers followed, with Emmanuel Clase working a perfect ninth for his third save.
Carlos Correa had three hits and Edouard Julien homered for the Twins. Minnesota, which averaged more than 10 strikeouts per game to lead the majors last year, fanned the 15 times and stranded nine runners — eight in scoring position.
The eighth inning was emblematic of the Twins' struggles. With Minnesota down by two runs, Correa led off with a double. But he remained stuck at second as Scott Barlow struck out Carlos Santana, Manuel Margot and Willi Castro in order to end the threat.
Twins starter Pablo López (1-1) gave up four runs — three earned — in 5 2/3 innings.
After retiring the first nine hitters he faced, López ran into trouble in the fourth. Kwan led off with the first of three straight singles to start the inning, and Cleveland ended up scoring three runs.
The Twins put runners in scoring position in three of the first four innings but came up empty each time. Julien finally broke through when he led off the fifth with an opposite-field homer, a towering fly that got up in the stiff north wind and carried into the left-field stands.
Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Tanner Bibee winds up to deliver during the first inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Thursday, April 4, 2024, in Minneapolis. Credit: AP/Abbie Parr
Cleveland tacked on an unearned run in the sixth on Correa's two-out error.
The Twins cut it to 4-2 in the seventh on a wild pitch by Hunter Gaddis, but they left two more runners in scoring position.
UP NEXT
Guardians: On Saturday, RHP Carlos Carrasco (0-0, 5.40 ERA) will make his second start in his return to Cleveland after three seasons with the Mets. Carrasco gave up three runs in five innings against the Athletics on Sunday.
Cleveland Guardians' Steven Kwan (38) hits a double during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Thursday, April 4, 2024, in Minneapolis. Credit: AP/Abbie Parr
Twins: RHP Joe Ryan (0-0, 1.69) gave up one run in 5 1/3 innings in his first start of the season on Saturday at Kansas City. Ryan was 0-3 with a 3.24 ERA in three starts against Cleveland last year.
