Tanner Bibee strong in ALCS Game 5 before Stanton homer

CLEVELAND — Tanner Bibee couldn’t hold back his emotions.

He was excellent for the Guardians in a critical Game 5 start, keeping the Yankees off the scoreboard all the way until his final pitch of the night turned into a game-tying home run by Giancarlo Stanton, the Yankees’ first blow in their 5-2, 10-inning victory over the Guardians on Saturday at Progressive Field.

Stanton demolished a 3-2 slider and watched it soar over the fence, while Bibee doubled over on the mound, knowing off the bat what was happening behind him. The Yankees were able to celebrate heading to the World Series. The Guardians had to pack up to go home.

“I mean, there’s a lot of stuff going on right now,” Bibee said. “I don’t really know how to process it. That’s why I’m so emotional.”

There was a lot for Bibee to digest. This was a guy who entered the 2024 season determined to take a big leap from his stellar rookie season in 2023, but instead, he struggled to find his footing. As the season went on, he grew into the ace this group needed.

“I felt like the beginning of the year, he felt like he had something to prove to everybody that his runner-up Rookie of the Year wasn’t a fluke,” Guardians catcher Austin Hedges said. “And then his response to the ups and downs was, instead of trying to prove it to everybody, he was like, ‘I’m already good. I’m already great.’”

Suddenly, mistake pitches or errors behind him didn’t rattle him. His emotions were completely controlled on the rubber, preventing any domino effect that had affected him in his early starts of the season.

From June 19 through the end of the regular season, Bibee owned a 3.11 ERA with 100 strikeouts and 24 walks in 98 1/3 innings. In this span, he averaged nearly six innings per outing for a team that was desperately trying to save its overworked bullpen. He easily led the club with 173 2/3 total innings on the season before he added another 15 2/3 in the playoffs.

“[He] kept getting better as the year went on,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “He said to me before the season even started he wants to be No. 1, and he is.”

It all led to the playoffs, where Bibee wasn’t as dominant as he would’ve liked to be. He was fresh off the shortest outing of his career in Game 2 of the ALCS at Yankee Stadium, getting pulled in the second inning after giving up three runs (two earned) in 1 1/3 frames. He was frustrated by the performance and with the fact that he didn’t have a chance to work out of it.

Saturday wasn’t just a win-or-go home scenario for Bibee. It wasn’t just him coming back on short rest. It was proving to himself and to his team that he was the ace they knew they could count on. And he delivered.

He danced around traffic in the first inning before settling in to retire 10 straight batters through the heart of his outing. The Guardians jumped out to a 2-0 lead and Bibee kept the dangerous Yankees lineup off the scoreboard through the first five innings. For the first time this postseason, Cleveland had a starter reach the sixth inning.

“I am so proud of Tanner for stepping up,” Vogt said. “He wanted to take the ball, short rest, and did his job and then some today.”

It wasn’t until the final pitch that Stanton spoiled Bibee’s night. A two-run homer that was mashed over the 19-foot wall in left field tainted what was the best start the Guardians had this postseason.

“Tanner had struck him out twice,” Vogt said. “He had him on the ropes. One mistake, that right there. I trust Tanner on him. The way he was throwing the ball, I would not — you give me 100 more times, I’m not putting him on right there.”

The two-run blast was a dagger to Bibee, who put a tremendous amount of pressure on himself to deliver for this team. It was a dagger to the Guardians, as it allowed the Yankees to get back in the game and eventually win it to advance to the World Series.

It was too much for Bibee to process.

He had a successful season with a sour ending. He got the pivotal start he wanted but it didn’t end in his favor. The Yankees were on the field, celebrating their clinching moment, while Bibee was in the Guardians’ clubhouse, hugging fellow starter Matthew Boyd with tears streaming down his face.

Getting experience in the playoffs was the next step in Bibee’s development. He fought back more tears as he tried to reflect more on his season and just couldn’t find the words. But he knows that this will help him take his game to the next level in 2025.

“That guy’s going to win a Cy Young,” Hedges said. “If it’s not next year, it’s coming.”