Gavin Williams is turning into a star with each pitch he throws for the Cleveland Guardians this October. However, the right-hander doesn’t seem like someone stepping into the national spotlight.
After getting the win on Thursday in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series, Williams waited patiently in the clubhouse while media members crowded around rookie reliever Daniel Espino’s locker and spilled into Williams’ dressing space.
I apologized for inadvertently getting in Williams’ way. He smiled and said, “I’m not in any hurry. I’ve got nowhere to be.”
Williams, though, looks like a pitcher intent on getting the Guardians to the World Series for the first time since 2016. The Guardians took another step toward the Fall Classic with a 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on a brilliantly sunny afternoon at Progressive Field.
Williams allowed two runs and two hits over five innings. Four relievers finished the game, combining on four hitless innings.
Gavin Williams continues strong postseason performance
Williams built on a strong ALDS performance when he rallied the Guardians from an 2-0 deficit to beat the Chicago White Sox. Williams pitched 5 2/3 shutout innings in the Guardians’ victory in the winner-take-all Game 5, working on only one day of rest after getting the final three outs when Cleveland won Game 4.
In four games, including three starts, Williams has a 2-0 record and a 2.16 ERA in this postseason, striking out 33 batters in just 16 2/3 innings. He punched out nine Rays in just five innings, adding to his burgeoning October legend in which he is the first Cleveland pitcher to have three postseason starts with at least nine strikeouts.
Williams, 27, had a fine regular season, leading the AL with 248 strikeouts in 184 2/3 innings while going 14-8 with a 3.76 ERA. Yet he has gone to the next level this month, even if he doesn’t have any secret sauce for October.
“That's a good question, actually,” Williams replied when asked why he is succeeding on baseball’s biggest stage. “I can't pinpoint it. I keep telling myself, don't let the moment get too big. Take your deep breath when you need to and keep your heart rate down.”
Williams was too much for the Rays
The most impressive part of Williams’ performance on Thursday is that it came against the team that struck out the fewest times during the regular season.
The Rays only gave Williams trouble once. In the fourth inning, they got their lone runs and hits to take a 2-1 lead. Yandy Diaz hit a leadoff double; Victor Mesa Jr. walked with two outs, and Chandler Simpson drove them in by pulling a triple into the right-field corner.
“They're very dangerous,” Williams said. “Just being able to pick your spots and pick the right pitch in different locations, it can get tricky. They can flip the script on you really quick, and you never know what they're really going to be doing or sitting on.”
Yet Williams kept the Rays off balance, aside from the hiccup inning that handed the Guardians a 2-1 deficit. Rookie Petey Halpin’s two-run home run put the Guardians ahead in the fifth, and the bullpen protected the one-run lead, Cade Smith highlighting that effort by striking out all four batters he faced for the save.
It would have been interesting to see how many more strikeouts Williams could have recorded. Yet Guardians manager Stephen Vogt wanted to play it safe after pitching Williams three times in the previous series.
“I think when we go into the game, we have a limit that everybody has,” Vogt said. “He was a little lighter today, just with what he did over the weekend. But you also must watch the game. They'll tell you when they're getting tired, or when things aren't starting to go well. But for Gavin, the first four innings, he looked sharp, sharp, and he still looked sharp in the fifth. I didn't like the drop in velo. He's feeling fine. We just got to get him out of there at the right time.”
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