Williams fans 11 to reach 200-K milestone for first time

CLEVELAND -- There have been games, Steven Kwan said, where he hasn’t had much to do in the outfield while Gavin Williams has been on the mound. The big right-hander with a propensity for racking up strikeouts has a knack for limiting balls in play.

In those quiet moments, Kwan mulls what he would do if he were in the batter’s box against Williams, who can beat opponents in multiple ways: A four-seam fastball that touches triple digits. A slider. A sinker. A curveball. There isn't really a good answer.

“It's crazy that anybody touches him in the first place,” Kwan said.

A few hundred batters this season have tried but not succeeded.

The Guardians beat the Giants, 5-2, on Thursday in the rubber match of a three-game set at Progressive Field behind another strong outing by Williams He struck out 11 batters over 5 2/3 innings, in which he allowed two runs on four hits and three walks.

That effort helped the Guardians secure their first series win in nearly a month, since they took a three-game set from the Reds in Cincinnati on July 28-29. Cleveland lost its next five series.

Williams now has 201 strikeouts in 154 2/3 innings over 26 starts this season. He’s the first Cleveland pitcher with 200-plus punchouts in a campaign since Shane Bieber had 259 in 214 1/3 innings over 34 games (33 starts) in 2019.

“It’s special, especially for the first time in my career,” Williams said of his milestone. “It's definitely special to see that. I hope it continues. I think it's awesome.”

Williams has been one of the Majors’ premier strikeout artists this season. Thursday marked his ninth double-digit-strikeout game this season, which is tied with Toronto’s Dylan Cease for the second most in MLB behind Jacob Misiorowski. It’s the most such games by a Cleveland pitcher since Trevor Bauer in 2018 (10).

Seven of those games have come since July. Williams went five consecutive starts with 10 or more strikeouts, from July 9-Aug. 2. He logged just 12 total strikeouts over his past two outings entering Thursday, including a tough outing Friday against the Padres. Williams issued four walks over 4 1/3 innings and allowed as many runs (five) as he had punchouts.

Thursday was a return to form. San Francisco’s only tallies off Williams came on a Willy Adames two-run homer in the fourth inning. He had five strikeouts with his sweeper, three with his sweeper, two with his four-seamer and one with his sinker.

The Guardians backed Williams by jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning while sending eight batters to the plate. José Ramírez opened the scoring with an RBI single, which was his 1,751st career hit. He is now tied with Charlie Jamieson for the fifth-most hits in franchise history, behind Nap Lajoie (2,052 career hits), Tris Speaker (1,965), Earl Averill (1,903) and Joe Sewell (1,800).

“It’s a testament to him,” Kwan said of Williams. “He’s worked super hard. He stays pretty level-headed, too. It’s been super impressive. If we’re going to go deep in a playoff run, he's going to be one of the main guys that we're going to rely on.”

If Cleveland is going to make a true postseason push over the next five weeks, it needs to use this series as a springboard to get past an inconsistent and frustrating stretch of baseball.

The Guardians improved to 62-66 amid an 11-20 stretch since the All-Star break. Things have gone poorly, and yet, Cleveland sat just one game behind the idle Twins (63-65) for the final American League Wild Card spot after Thursday’s win and 4 1/2 games behind the AL Central-leading White Sox (66-61).

How you view the Guardians’ position in the revolving door of the AL postseason picture depends on if you’re a glass-half-full or a glass-half-empty person. What we can all agree on is there is at least some time left this season.

“I know where we're at,” manager Stephen Vogt said pregame. “But there's a lot of baseball left.”

Time can quickly begin to work against you, which is why this was a big series. The Guardians’ schedule is rich with opportunity right now. Their next nine games are against the Rockies and Angels (both of whom entered Thursday 50-77) and the Royals (who are 55-74).

The Guardians’ 1-0 loss to the Giants (52-75) on Wednesday was tough to stomach. They quickly put it behind them to grab a much-needed series win.

“That’s crazy that it’s been [nearly] a month,” Kwan said. “I guess it has kind of felt like that. Baseball is all about runs. Hopefully we can get on a run right now.”