CLEVELAND — Tanner Bibee is getting a second crack at the Yankees in the AL Championship Series. His first one didn’t go so well.
The right-hander will start for the Cleveland Guardians in Game 5 on Saturday after he was pulled from Game 2 in the second inning by manager Stephen Vogt.
Vogt said bringing back Bibee on short rest was an easy choice in what could be an elimination game based on his solid season.
“He’s been our best pitcher all year,” Vogt said before Game 3 on Friday. “I can’t wait to get him back out there, and he feels good. He feels ready. He wants to pitch again, so we’re excited to have Tanner back out there.”
Bibee lasted just 1 1/3 innings against the Yankees, who tagged him for five hits in his short stint in the Bronx. Vogt replaced him with hard-throwing reliever Cade Smith in the second inning to face Aaron Judge.
“It’s not like I went out there and threw 100 pitches and about to go out there and do it again,” said Bibee, who went 12-8 with a 3.47 ERA in 31 starts. “I threw 39 pitches. I feel good. I’m ready to go. Vogter told me right after the game on Tuesday that it was a possibility that I could be starting. So I prepared like I was going to.”
Bibee will match up against New York’s Carlos Rodón, who got the win in Game 1 when he held the Guardians to one run three hits in six innings.
While Bibee was upset he didn’t get a chance to pitch longer in Game 2, he understood Vogt’s reasoning.
“He’s given me some leash earlier on in the year, and it just comes down to trying to win the game, but I get that,” Bibee said. “It’s just some stuff I’m not going to like. But it’s not my job to like it. It’s my job to get outs.”
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