The final pitch that Tanner Bibee delivered on Friday was a sinker that Spencer Torkelson hit over the center-field wall at Progressive Field. And yet, after manager Stephen Vogt signaled to his bullpen, the right-hander received a deserved standing ovation from the Cleveland faithful while he walked off the mound. Bibee was stellar and led the Guardians to a 3-2 win over the Tigers on Friday night in the opener of a three-game series between the AL Central rivals. Over seven-plus innings, he allowed just two runs on two hits and two walks with eight strikeouts. Both hits were solo home runs. James Outman led off the top of the third inning by hitting a blast to right field. “That's really a game you wish you added on more runs to let him keep going, but Tanner did his job and then some,” Vogt said. “That was unbelievable.” Bibee and the Guardians have continually (and understandably) downplayed the significance of wins this season, given how much of that metric is out of a hurler’s control. The right-hander has been the poster child for that argument this year, as he went winless through May amid some poor luck and poor run support. Entering Friday, only the Phillies’ Andrew Painter had fewer runs of support each game (2.4) than Bibee (2.7) among pitchers who have made 10-plus starts. The Guardians’ Opening Day starter previously became the first pitcher in Cleveland franchise history to go winless through his first 13 starts in a season. Bibee snapped that streak on Saturday in Texas, and has now opened June 2-0. On Friday, he threw just 91 pitches (61 strikes), while some guidance from catcher Patrick Bailey appeared to prove key. “Pat's whole thing in-between every inning is just telling me, ‘Three or less, three or less,” Bibee said of throwing three or fewer pitches per plate appearance. “When you're in the zone, you're ahead, usually good things happen.” Bibee retired 12 of 25 batters he faced on Friday on three or fewer pitches. He threw an average of 3.64 pitches per plate appearance, his third-lowest in a start this season. His fewest was against Texas (3.22), when he retired 16 of 27 batters faced on three or fewer pitches. “It’s a conviction that his stuff is good enough to throw strikes, which we’ve seen in the last two outings,” Bailey said. “Three pitches or less gets him six, seven \[innings\
