Guardians catch Akil Baddoo stealing in 6-2 loss to Tigers

When the highlight of the game for your team is an opposing baserunner getting thrown out trying to steal second thanks to the ball striking his crotch and then bouncing into the glove of the second baseman who was applying the tag, you know things are going well for your team.

Here is said highlight:

Outside of that amusing play, Monday night’s 6-2 loss to the Detroit Tigers was an otherwise depressing game, as is often the case when you lose a game to the Detroit Tigers.

Tanner Bibee’s command wasn’t there from the start. After not walking a single batter through his first two big league starts, Bibee issued a leadoff walk to Zach McKinstry to start the game. It was the first of four walks over the next four innings. He barely threw more strikes (37) than balls (30), as the Tigers tagged him for seven hits and four earned runs over 3.2 innings.

Things started to spiral for Bibee in the third inning. Three straight singles to start the inning allowed Detroit to tie the score at 1-1. After Riley Greene flew out for the first out of the inning, Javier Báez got things back on track for the Tigers with an RBI single to plate the go-ahead run. Nick Maton’s RBI double made it a 3-1 lead over the Guardians. Bibee got the hook the following inning after surrendering an RBI double to Greene that could have been a two-run double if Eric Haase hadn’t been tagged out at home trying to score from first on the play.

Bibee’s fastball was the problem child. He finished the night with a 34% zone rate on his four-seamer, which is not what you want. Let’s hope for better in his next start.

Meanwhile, you can hope for better from the Guardians’ putrid lineup, but I’d be careful not to invest too much hope. Detroit starter Joey Wentz did what left-handed pitchers typically do to Cleveland hitters: He made plenty of mistakes and dared them to punish them. As has been the case all season long for the Guardians, no such punishment was delivered.

For the briefest of moments, the Guardians seemed like they might have success against Wentz, who came into the game with a 6.67 ERA over his last six starts. Steven Kwan led off the first inning with a double and Amed Rosario followed with a single. Perhaps signaling how the rest of the game would go, José Ramírez then grounded into a double play to score Kwan.

Cleveland would only muster four hits the rest of the night, the only hit of consequence coming courtesy of José Ramírez solo home run in the fourth inning.

Eli Morgan gave up a solo shot to Andy Ibáñez on a first-pitch fastball in the sixth inning, and Xzavion Curry got roughed up in the eighth inning, allowing three straight two-out singles to give up the sixth and final run of the night for Detroit.