CLEVELAND (Interstat) — Tanner Bibee pitched seven strong innings, Cade Smith earned his 22nd save and the Cleveland Guardians defeated the Detroit Tigers 3-2 on Friday night at Progressive Field before a crowd of 35,427.

Bibee scattered two hits, allowed two earned runs and struck out eight in a 99-pitch outing that improved his record to 2-7. The right-hander allowed solo home runs to James Outman in the third inning and Spencer Torkelson in the eighth but otherwise kept the Tigers’ offense in check. Smith worked a perfect ninth inning, striking out one, to seal the victory.

Cleveland improved to 38-33, while Detroit fell to 29-41. The Guardians have won five consecutive games against the Tigers dating to May 18, including a four-game sweep in Detroit last month.

Jack Flaherty took the loss for Detroit, allowing two runs on three hits over three innings with one strikeout and one walk. Flaherty fell to 1-8.

The Guardians struck first with two runs in the second inning. Rhys Hoskins led off with a sharp line-drive double to left field. After two fly outs, Patrick Bailey singled to left to drive in Hoskins. Brayan Rocchio followed with a triple to right field, scoring Bailey and giving Cleveland a 2-0 lead.

Detroit answered in the top of the third. Outman, leading off, crushed a solo home run to right-center field, his first of the season, tying the game at 2.

The score remained tied until the sixth inning. Angel Martínez led off with a double to right field. Steven Kwan then singled to center, scoring Martínez to put Cleveland ahead 3-2.

Detroit threatened in the eighth when Torkelson, batting leadoff, hit his 11th home run of the season to center field, cutting the deficit to 3-2. But Hunter Gaddis relieved Bibee and retired the next three batters, including a groundout and two fly outs, to preserve the lead.

Cleveland’s bullpen combined for two scoreless innings. Gaddis pitched a perfect eighth, and Smith recorded a 1-2-3 ninth with two strikeouts looking.

The Tigers managed only two hits, both home runs. Outman finished 1-for-3 with a home run and an RBI. Torkelson also went 1-for-3 with a home run and an RBI. No other Detroit batter reached base.

Cleveland collected nine hits. Hoskins doubled, Martínez doubled and Rocchio tripled. Patrick Bailey had two hits, including the go-ahead RBI single in the second. Kwan had two hits and drove in the eventual winning run in the sixth.

Ty Madden pitched two scoreless innings in relief for Detroit, allowing one hit and striking out three. Drew Sommers pitched a scoreless seventh with two strikeouts. Jacob Waguespack pitched a scoreless fourth, allowing one hit and striking out one. Drew Anderson allowed one run on three hits in the sixth inning.

The game lasted 2 hours and 20 minutes.

Detroit had entered the game off an 11-0 victory over Minnesota on Thursday. Cleveland had lost 8-4 to the New York Yankees on Wednesday. The Tigers continue their series at Cleveland on Saturday, while the Guardians host Detroit in the second game of the series.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Detroit 6, Cleveland 3. Interstat’s ELO system had given Cleveland a 58.30 percent probability to win. Detroit had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total of five runs went over the over-under line of eight.