Williams dazzles with 11 K's and immaculate inning, but Guardians fall short in 12 innings

CLEVELAND -- When Gavin Williams is at his best, he’s a menacing matchup for opponents behind his swing-and-miss stuff that can be seemingly impossible to hit. His development in the big leagues has been defined by working to harness it consistently.

What we saw Thursday was emblematic of the strides Williams has taken over the past year, during which he has entrenched himself as an anchor in the Guardians’ rotation.

Williams became the fifth recorded Cleveland pitcher to throw an immaculate inning (three strikeouts on nine total pitches), in the fourth inning of the Guardians’ 3-1 loss to the Twins at Progressive Field. The big right-hander struck out Byron Buxton, Ryan Jeffers and Josh Bell in the frame, all swinging.

It was the second immaculate inning this season, following Arizona’s Michael Soroka on March 30.

“After the way I was throwing the ball last year, all the walks and stuff, that probably would've never happened,” said Williams, whose 83 free passes in 2025 led MLB. “It's pretty cool. Definitely the first time I've ever thrown one.”

It was part of a stellar day from Williams, who allowed just two hits over seven scoreless innings while striking out 11 batters. He assumed the American League lead in strikeouts (156) with his effort.

Williams is in some exclusive company now. The list of recorded immaculate innings thrown by a Cleveland pitcher is short. He became the first to pull off the feat since Enyel De Los Santos on Sept. 27, 2022, in the seventh inning against the Blue Jays.

Otherwise, the recorded instances include Justin Masterson (June 2, 2014, in the fourth inning against the Red Sox), Carlos Carrasco (July 7, 2017, in the fifth inning against the Tigers) and Zach Plesac (Sept. 18, 2020, in the second inning against the Tigers).

“That was a pretty special moment. It doesn't happen often,” said Guardians manager Stephen Vogt, a former big league catcher. “Very, very rarely do you get close. As the tension is mounting, you get strike seven, strike eight, and then strike nine.”

Perhaps that tension was felt by those in the Guardians' dugout while the immaculate inning was brewing. Funny enough, it didn’t sound like that was the case between Williams and catcher Patrick Bailey.

“I didn't really realize it until after I called the ninth pitch,” Bailey said.

“With the Buxton at-bat, I thought he fouled off a couple more pitches,” Williams said, “because I was definitely not throwing the pitches where I wanted to with him. It was pretty cool.”

Williams got ahead of Buxton with a sinker that was called a strike. The center fielder fouled off a sweeper before he whiffed on a 98.8 mph four-seam fastball up and away.

Jeffers swung and missed at three consecutive sweepers. Bell took a curveball for a strike, fouled off a four-seamer and whiffed on a 99.2 mph sinker, as Williams capped off the immaculate frame.

Bailey noted he called a sinker inside on the 0-2 pitch to Bell. He said he usually doesn’t call that for Williams, and initially felt some regret. It all worked out when Williams threw it off the outer half of the plate and Bell whiffed.

Bailey started to yell in celebration as Williams began to walk off the field with the inning complete. Williams briefly wondered if he had forgotten the number of outs. Bailey soon clarified his yelling was because of what they achieved.

Bailey’s solo homer in the fifth accounted for Cleveland’s lone run as Minnesota earned a series split. Williams took a tough-luck no-decision after the Guardians finished 0-for-17 with runners in scoring position. But the outing was the latest surefire sign he’s continuing to establish himself as one of the top starters in the league.

Thursday marked Williams’ 10th career double-digit strikeout start, six of which have come this season. He’s struck out 11 batters in three straight starts and walked zero in back-to-back outings.

When Williams is on, the way he has been consistently this season, he’s a force.

“We’ve talked about it for a couple years. When Gavin throws strikes, he's dominant,” Vogt said pregame Thursday. “We saw it obviously his last couple times out. He's doing it with all of his pitches too, with the fastball, with both breaking balls. He's getting punchouts, and when you punch people out, you don't put it in play, you're going to get outs.

“We’ve just really seen Gavin grow, and even through his struggles, I think a lot of pitchers would take his struggles to be their ‘A’ game.”