Tanner Bibee wins 2nd straight start to propel Guardians over Tigers 3-2

CLEVELAND (AP) — Tanner Bibee had eight strikeouts to win his second straight start as the Cleveland Guardians beat the Detroit Tigers 3-2 on Friday night to snap a four-game losing streak.

Bibee — who went 0-7 in his first 13 starts this season — allowed only two hits in seven-plus innings, but they were home runs to Detroit's James Outman and Spencer Torkelson. The right-hander (2-7) retired 14 of the 15 hitters he faced between home runs.

Cleveland's Patrick Bailey and Steven Kwan both had two hits and an RBI. Cade Smith retired the Tigers in order in the ninth for his MLB-leading 22nd save.

Detroit starter Jack Flaherty (1-8) left after three innings because of left leg discomfort. The right-hander allowed two runs on three hits with one walk and one strikeout in his second-shortest outing of the season.

Cleveland's Rhys Hoskins led off the second with a double to left field and scored when Bailey lined a base hit to left-center with two out. Bailey then scored on Brayan Rocchio's triple to right.

Outman, who was claimed on waivers from Minnesota on Thursday, drove a sinker from Bibee into the stands in right-center on a 2-2 count to lead off the third. It was the first homer of the season for Outman, who batted .156 in 49 games for the Twins.

The Guardians left their lead to 3-1 in the sixth on Kwan's base hit to center to score Angel Martínez.

Bibee exited in the eighth after Torkelson homered to center on a full count.

Detroit LHP Tarik Skubal (3-2, 2.70 ERA) is expected to be activated before Saturday's game. The two-time reigning AL Cy Young winner had arthroscopic surgery last month to remove loose bodies from his left elbow. LHP Joey Cantillo (4-3, 4.57 ERA) will go for Cleveland.

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Cleveland Guardians' Angel Martínez gestures from second base in front of second base umpire Mike Muchlinski, rear, after hitting a double in the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Detroit Tigers in Cleveland, Friday, June 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Detroit Tigers right fielder Kerry Carpenter (30) can't get to a ball hit for a double by Cleveland Guardians' Angel Martínez in the sixth inning of a baseball game in Cleveland, Friday, June 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Detroit Tigers' James Outman is congratulated in the dugout after hitting a home run in the third inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians in Cleveland, Friday, June 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Cleveland Guardians' Tanner Bibee walks off the field in the first inning of a baseball game against the Detroit Tigers in Cleveland, Friday, June 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Friday that a “swift and lethal kinetic” U.S. strike has killed Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, whom he called “the infamous leader” of the Tren de Aragua gang.

Tren de Aragua has been labeled by the United States as a terrorist organization. Guerrero Flores was charged in a New York federal court with racketeering conspiracy and other crimes, including lending support to terrorists in crimes that stretched more than a decade, authorities announced in December.

U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said at the time that the gang is responsible for countless acts of violence, extortion and drug trafficking in North America, South America and Europe. Trump nominated Clayton on Thursday to be director of national intelligence.

The U.S. State Department had offered rewards of up to $5 million for information leading to Guerrero Flores’ arrest

In a post on his social media site, Trump wrote, “Tren de Aragua terrorists no longer have safe haven in Venezuela or anywhere else and, under my leadership, we will find these vicious murderers and drug lords anytime, anyplace, and send them to the depths of hell where they belong.”

The Pentagon had nothing to add beyond the Truth Social post from Trump.

Trump has taken a series of extraordinary actions against the gang, including a series of strikes on small boats his administration has accused of smuggling drugs to America. At least 207 people have been killed in boat strikes by the U.S. military in the eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea since the Trump administration began targeting those it calls “narcoterrorists” in early September.

Trump and administration officials have consistently blamed Tren de Aragua for being at the root of the violence and illicit drug dealing that plague some U.S. cities. The president spent months repeating the claim — contradicted by a declassified U.S. intelligence assessment — that Tren de Aragua had operated under Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s control. The U.S. whisked Maduro out of Venezuela to face U.S. drug charges in January.

Tren de Aragua originated more than a decade ago at an infamously lawless prison with hardened criminals in Venezuela’s central state of Aragua. The gang has expanded in recent years as millions of Venezuelans migrated to other Latin American countries or the U.S. in search of better living conditions.

The size of the gang is unclear. Countries with large populations of Venezuelan migrants, including Peru and Colombia, have accused the group of being behind a spree of violence in the region. Still, unlike other criminal organizations from Colombia, Central America and Brazil, Tren de Aragua has no large-scale involvement in smuggling cocaine across international borders, according to InSight Crime, a think tank that tracks crime across Latin America.

In Venezuela, gang leaders have long been known to participate in various illegal activities, including gold mining.

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Associated Press writer Regina Garcia Cano in Mexico City contributed.

President Donald Trump is pictured during an event where he signs a proclamation about the fishing industry, in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, June 11, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)