Tanner Bibee, David Fry lead Guardians to their eighth straight home win, 7-1 over Nationals

Updated Jun. 1, 2024 2:02 a.m. ET

Associated Press

CLEVELAND (AP) — Tanner Bibee carried a shutout into the seventh and David Fry’s three-run homer in the bottom of the inning broke open a close game as the Cleveland Guardians beat the Washington Nationals 7-1 on Friday night.

Bibee (4-1) allowed one run and three hits in 6 1/3 innings with seven strikeouts and one walk. Eddie Rosario’s RBI double with one out in the seventh inning chased Bibee and drew the Nationals within 2-1.

Bibee, last year’s runner-up for AL Rookie of the Year, has a 1.82 ERA in his last five starts. Luis Garcia Jr. had the other two hits off Bibee with singles in the fourth and seventh, and hit another single in the ninth off closer Emmanuel Clase.

“He was phenomenal,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said of Bibee. “He just bears down, and he really had a top rail today. He was just so much fun to watch."

Bibee left with the one-run lead before the Guardians had a four-run seventh. Josh Naylor brought home a run with a force out grounder and Fry followed with his eighth homer of the season, a blast to left-center field off Robert Garcia.

Fry made his major league debut last season but was not a lock to make the team out of spring training. However, the utility man has become one of the Guardians’ key hitters with a .352 batting average in 40 games.

“I’m just trying to be prepared and be a pro every day and earn some at-bats,” Fry said. “Luckily, Vogter has been fighting for me, putting me in the lineup and all I can say is I’m thankful for that.”

Guardians leadoff hitter Steven Kwan had three hits, two runs scored and a walk after being activated from the injured list before the game. He raised his batting average to .365 through 33 games.

“The guy has been out three or four weeks then comes in and goes hit, hit, hit, like whatever,” Bibee said. “Pretty amazing.”

Kwan struck out in the first inning, ending his streak of 74 plate appearances without a strikeout, but knocked in the game’s last run with a bloop single in the eighth.

“That first at-bat, it definitely felt like I had been a month away,” Kwan said with a smile. “But I took a lot of mental reps, I took a lot of virtual at-bats, and it was nice to see some of that work pay off.”

The Guardians’ José Ramírez drove in a run with a groundout in a two-run third that broke a scoreless tie and finished with 33 RBIs in May. That is the second-most in May in franchise history behind Al Rosen’s 38 for the pennant-winning 1954 team.

The AL Central-leading Guardians’ other run in the third scored on Tyler Freeman’s single off Patrick Corbin (1-6), who lost despite giving up two runs in six innings. The left-hander surrendered six hits and three walks while striking out five.

Cleveland won its eighth straight home game after coming off a 4-2 road trip to the Los Angeles Angels and Colorado. The Guardians’ 19-6 home record is the best in the major leagues.

Freeman and Andres Gimenez also had two hits for the Guardians.

The Nationals, who had won five of their previous seven games, had a late night. They did not arrive at their Cleveland hotel until 5 a.m. Friday after playing a night game in Atlanta then experiencing travel delays.

Manager Dave Martinez allowed the players to report late to the ballpark and canceled batting practice.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Nationals: RHP Cade Cavalli (Tommy John surgery) pitched 2 2/3 innings for High-A Wilmington on Thursday night in a rehab start. Though he did not give up a hit, Cavalli was charged with two runs as he had five strikeouts and three walks.

Guardians: Kwan (strained left hamstring) had been out since May 5. OF Estevan Florial was designated for assignment. … RHP Gavin Williams (right elbow inflammation), who has been sidelined all season, made his first rehab start Thursday for Triple-A Columbus. He pitched one inning and allowed two runs – one earned – and two hits while striking out two and walking two.

UP NEXT

Nationals rookie LHP Mitchell Parker (4-2, 3.45 ERA) will start against Guardians RHP Ben Lively (4-2, 2.80) on Saturday. Lively has won his last three starts and Parker has gotten wins in each of his last two starts.

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This story has been updated to correct the spelling of the first name of Clase to Emmanuel.

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