CLEVELAND, Ohio — In a duel of aces Thursday, Guardians righty Tanner Bibee turned to his four-letter friend as the difference maker in a 3-1 win against Tarik Skubal and the Tigers that pulled Cleveland within 3 1/2 games of the American League Central Division lead with 10 to play.

After laboring through the first two innings, Bibee said he started “throwing a lot of ‘f—- you’ fastballs” to Detroit’s lineup, allowing him to get through six frames and match Gavin Williams with his team-high 11th win. Bibee finished with eight punchouts and surrendered only four hits, retiring 12 of the final 14 batters he faced including six on strikes.

The difference between a “f— you” fastball and a your normal, garden variety four-seamer is the mentality behind the pitch, according to the 26-year-old Cleveland righty.

“Sometimes you throw a heater and you’re like, ‘Oh, I don’t want this to get hit,’ but when you throw a ‘f— you’ fastball it’s like, ‘Hit it. I dare you,’” Bibee said. “When you start throwing fastballs like that, you’re throwing everything with a lot more conviction.”

The idea went back to last week when teammate Joey Cantillo tossed eight scoreless innings against the Royals. Cantillo reared back and challenged Kansas City hitters to catch up to his heater that topped out at 95 mph and averaged 92.8 mph according to Statcast. The pitch registered 1.2 mph over his average fastball for the season and had a bit more of an edge than the Guardians had previously seen.

Cantillo advised Bibee about the aggressive approach, and Bibee carried it into his next start against Chicago where he tossed the first shutout of his career, fanning 10 in nine brilliant innings.

On Thursday, Bibee strayed from the more aggressive fastball approach early. He allowed a run on three straight hits to open the second inning, but changed course following some self-evaluation and turned to his four-letter friend.

“After my first couple innings, I thought the same thing,” Bibee said. “‘Am I doing that? No. OK, let’s go back to it.’”

Bibee threw 29 four-seam fastballs among his 100 pitches, topping out at 96.4 mph and averaging 94.7 mph while getting Tigers hitters to swing at the pitch 62% of the time. The result was Bibee’s third consecutive quality start and 11th of the season, beating Skubal and drawing Cleveland tantalizingly close to the division lead with three more matchups set for next week at Progressive Field.

“It’s obviously a very real thing, but at the same time, for us to get close, we still have to go out and win baseball games,” Bibee said. “If we don’t win the next, what is it, 10 games, then it’s not going to matter where we are right now. So, I think that’s just the (attitude) that we come in with every day.”

Trivia

The Guardians trailed the Tigers in the AL Central Division by 15 1/2 games on July 9. What is the biggest divisional deficit overcome by a team in MLB history? Answer below.

Next

Today: The Guardians open a four-game weekend series against the Twins at Target Field at 8:10 p.m. Left-hander Parker Messick (3-0, 1.84) will start for Cleveland while righty Pablo López (5-4, 2.64) goes for the Twins. The game will air on CLEGuardians.TV, WKYC-TV3, WTAM 1100 AM, WMMS 100.7 FM and the Guardians Radio Network.

Saturday: Cleveland and Minnesota will play a split doubleheader. Game 1 starts at 2:10 p.m. and features Guardians RHP Slade Cecconi (6-6, 4.39) vs. Twins RHP Bailey Ober (5-8, 5.12). Game 2 starts at 7:10 p.m. with LHP Logan Allen (7-11, 4.36) vs. RHP Joe Ryan (13-8, 3.35). Both games will air on CLEGuardians.TV, WTAM 1100 AM, WMMS 100.7 FM and the Guardians Radio Network.

Sunday: The final road game of the regular season starts at 2:10 p.m. and features LHP Joey Cantillo (5-3, 3.27) vs. RHP Simeon Woods Richardson (7-4, 4.31). The contest will air on CLEGuardians.TV, WTAM 1100 AM, WMMS 100.7 FM and the Guardians Radio Network.

Monday: The Guardians are off before opening the final six-game homestand of the regular season and Progressive Field on Tuesday.

Trivia answer

The 1978 Yankees overcame a 14-game deficit against the Red Sox, winning a one-game playoff on Oct. 2 that year thanks to the infamous home run over the Green Monster by “Bucky F—— Dent.”

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