Williams struggles with control in 1st start of '26

SEATTLE -- Gavin Williams has a rule for himself that he pairs with each of his starts, which boils down to remembering the good and not dwelling on the bad for too long.

Friday, the big right-hander had his share of both, as did the Guardians in their 5-1 loss to the Mariners at T-Mobile Park.

Chase DeLauter continued his hot streak and gave Cleveland an early 1-0 lead with a first-inning solo home run. That was one of Cleveland’s high points on the night.

Here are a few moments that mattered.

Williams’ walks
The story of Williams’ 2025 season was the improvement he showed over the course of the summer. He led the Majors with 83 walks, but 57 came before the All-Star break -- when he had a 3.70 ERA in 19 starts. His 2.18 ERA in 12 starts after the break trailed only Paul Skenes (1.89) for first in the Majors and was tied with Tarik Skubal.

Williams issued six walks over five innings, in which he surrendered three runs while allowing just two hits. He paid for the free passes with one of the hits: Williams walked Randy Arozarena and Dominic Canzone in the fourth, and Cole Young drove them in with a three-run homer.

The six walks tied Williams’ career high, which he set on May 26 this past season.

“I thought his stuff was pretty good,” manager Stephen Vogt said. “They didn't hit him. But when you give them free passes -- we gave three runs away on walks tonight, and that was the story of the game.”

(One of those came at the expense of Colin Holderman, who issued a leadoff walk to Arozarena in the sixth that preceded a Luke Raley two-run homer.)

Williams said the problems were in his upper body and torso, in being too fast when his front foot hit the ground. He said it caused him to overrotate at times, and pull some of his pitches. He tried to overcorrect it, and then began missing to his armside (inside to right-handed hitters, outside to lefties.).

“It was just one of those days I was trying in warmups and in the game, trying to do a little bit of everything,” Williams said. “Just trying to fix that, and honestly wasn't doing it the way I should have been doing it."

Williams could take some solace in the quality of his stuff; his four-seamer averaged 97.5 mph and maxed at 99.5 mph. He’ll look to move past Friday.

“We know what Gavin's capable of,” Vogt said. “Obviously, just had a few too many walks tonight.”

Perfect Pallette
Rule 5 Draft pick Peyton Pallette had a keen observation about T-Mobile Park: It’s a lot different than some of the Minor League ballparks he’s pitched in.

”A little louder,” he quipped.

Pallette made his MLB debut on Friday was unfazed by his new environment. The 24-year-old threw two scoreless innings in which he struck out All-Stars Brendan Donovan and Cal Raleigh.

Pallette entered in the seventh and immediately set down Donovan and Raleigh. He threw just 15 pitches in the inning and six more in his 1-2-3 eighth. The stellar debut came with his parents, Doug and Stacy and wife, Jordyn (who’s pregnant) in attendance.

The Guardians selected Pallette from the White Sox in the Rule 5 Draft in December. He had not pitched above Triple-A before this season, and only transitioned to the bullpen full-time in 2025.

“God is good,” Pallette said. “It's been a long time coming. There's been a lot of ups and downs.”

Mixup at third base
The Guardians had a quiet night offensively, which included an unfortunate situation in the fifth. Mariners starter George Kirby walked Rhys Hoskins and CJ Kayfus to open the inning. After a Gabriel Arias swinging bunt, Kirby hit Brayan Rocchio to load the bases.

Steven Kwan flied out to shallow left field, and Arozarena threw out Hoskins at the plate to end the threat. His throw beat Hoskins by several feet. Hoskins said he misheard third-base coach Rouglas Odor.

“I should know that’s not our best opportunity there,” Hoskins said. “Especially with Chase and [José Ramírez] coming up. I wish I didn’t, but I misheard him.”

The Guardians tallied just two hits and three walks. Even with that moment, they didn't have nearly enough traffic on the basepaths as they needed.