Gavin Williams keeps piling up October punchouts, and the Cleveland Guardians keep cashing in.
With Cleveland beating the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 3 of the ALCS on Thursday afternoon, Williams again looked like the kind of starter who can take over a playoff series by himself. The Guardians now lead the series 2-1, and Williams was a major reason the tone never really shifted once he got rolling.
The unusual part was the start time. Baseball players, especially starting pitchers, live on routine, and this game was moved up five hours before first pitch.
That kind of change can throw a pitcher off. It didn’t bother Williams.
He was perfect through three innings, with the only blemish coming on an RBI triple by Tampa Bay speedster Chandler Simpson, who made contact with a ball so far in that it might have hit him if not for the swing. After that, Williams kept dealing and finished with nine strikeouts in the win.
That performance added another layer to what has already become a historic postseason run.
Since his playoff debut in 2024, Williams has piled up 45 strikeouts. That ties Josh Beckett for the third-most punchouts by a pitcher in his first five career postseason starts, with only Bob Gibson (47) and Sandy Koufax (48) ahead of him.
The names in front of him tell the story. When your October production puts you in the same neighborhood as that kind of company, you’re doing something special.
Williams is also closing in on another Cleveland mark. He now sits two strikeouts behind Corey Kluber (47) for the most in franchise history.
And the numbers keep going. Williams’ strikeout rate sits at 45.9 percent, the best among any pitcher through his first six career appearances, with a minimum of 10 innings pitched.
In this postseason alone, he has struck out 33 batters, which ranks third in Cleveland history for a single playoff run. Only Orel Hershiser, with 35 in 1995, and Kluber, with 35 in 2016, have done more for the Guardians.
Still, Williams made it clear after Game 3 that the strikeout total is not the point.
“Yeah, the punch-outs are cool, but I think there's a bigger goal than just the punch-outs,” Williams said. “I think it's more of trying to help the team win and give the best possible shot throughout the game to get the win.”
The Guardians may be up in the ALCS, but nothing is settled yet. A potential Game 7 between Cleveland and the Rays would be played Tuesday in St. Petersburg.
In Other News...
Guardians' Most Painful Trade Looks Even Worse After New Report
The 2021 swap that sent Junior Caminero from Cleveland to Tampa Bay has long lingered as one of the organizations toughest second guesses, and fresh reporting only adds another layer to the regret. The Guardians moved the then-rising prospect for pitcher Tobias Myers, a deal made with the hope of solving a pitching need while parting with a young hitter who was still far from the majors.
Now the sting is not just what Cleveland gave up, but how close the Rays came to asking for something else from the system before settling on Caminero. Xzavion Curry was among the minor leaguers Tampa Bay initially sought, and the fact that Caminero has developed into a top prospect while Myers and Curry have had quieter big league careers makes the trade look even harder to defend in hindsight. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Schedule Change Created An Unusual MLB Playoff Ripple
MLBs postseason calendar picked up an odd little domino effect Wednesday, with the league moving Game 4 of the NLCS between the Dodgers and Brewers up an hour to 8 p.m. ET. The change did not come out of nowhere. It followed the earlier decision to shift ALCS Game 3 between the Guardians and Rays from 6 p.m. ET to 1 p.m. ET because of expected inclement weather, a reminder of how one playoff adjustment can ripple across the rest of the bracket.
For Cleveland fans, the practical part is simple: the team confirmed that tickets and parking passes will still work for the new start time. The bigger picture is a postseason schedule that can still bend quickly around weather, TV and the rest of the leagues needs, even as the Guardians try to stay focused on the field rather than the clock. [Read more 🡒]
Gavin Williams Is Giving Guardians Fans Another Reason To Believe
Gavin Williams has already done his share to fuel Clevelands October run, and now he is looking to add something else to the mix as the Guardians head into the next round. The young starting pitcher said he wants to be a more vocal leader as the club prepares for Game 3 of the American League Championship Series, a sign of how quickly he has grown from power arm to one of the voices in the room.
Williams backed up that confidence with his latest outing, throwing 5.2 scoreless innings with 12 strikeouts in the series-clinching win over the Chicago White Sox. Cleveland now turns to a Game 3 matchup with the Tampa Bay Rays, set for 1 PM ET Thursday after a weather-related delay from the original 6 PM start, and the Guardians will be hoping their emerging starter brings the same edge both on the mound and in the clubhouse. [Read more 🡒]