CLEVELAND -- There was a point in the sixth inning Monday when Gavin Williams, like everyone at Progressive Field or watching the Guardians from home, was trying to track the number of pitches he had thrown to White Sox outfielder Tristan Peters.
There was also a point where Williams almost couldn’t believe what was happening.
“I just stopped counting because it was getting up there,” Williams said. “Those at-bats are frustrating. But props to him the way he did that.”
Williams walked Peters in an 18-pitch plate appearance that included 12 two-strike foul balls. That battle ended the big right-hander’s day, and it gave way to a larger source of frustration for the Guardians.
Peters’ walk was part of a six-run sixth inning for Chicago, in the Guardians’ 7-3 loss to the White Sox in the opener of a critical three-game series.
“That was an unbelievable at-bat by both of them,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “That was two very good players going at it, and that was entertaining to say the least.”
It wasn’t an entertaining night for the Guardians (76-75), who now sit 1 1/2 games behind the White Sox (77-73) for first place in the AL Central. Chicago also secured the season series on Monday, which would serve as an all-important tiebreaker if needed in two weeks.
With two weeks remaining in the regular season, this is the Guardians’ best chance to overcome the White Sox in the Central. That goal is still on the table, but it will require winning the final two games of this series.
If there was any solace to Monday’s setback, the Guardians held on to their one-game lead over the Blue Jays (75-76) for the final AL Wild Card spot, after Toronto dropped its series opener vs. the Tigers.
“It's just one game,” Williams said of the loss. “You play 162 for a reason. We’ve got two weeks left. Every game is big. It doesn’t matter if it’s No. 1 or 162. Every game matters.”
The Guardians showed how serious they were taking this game by rearranging their rotation plans leading up to it. Monday was Williams’ first start in eight days. He was in line to start on Saturday against the Twins, but the Guardians moved him back, aiming to start a crucial series off strong.
Williams kept Chicago scoreless through five innings despite battling some command issues (two walks and two hit batters), which included working around a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the fourth. He was charged with two runs on four hits and three walks with seven strikeouts over five-plus innings.
“Gavin was awesome,” Vogt said. “Gavin made some unbelievable pitches when he needed to.”
The matchup with Peters in the sixth was another story. At one point, Peters fouled off four straight pitches. At another, he fouled off six straight. He finally drew a walk on a sweeper off the outside corner, tying the record for the fifth-most pitches in a plate appearance since pitch count tracking began in 1988.
“At one point, I was just trying to get it up there over the middle, really, try to get him to hit it on the ground somewhere,” Williams said. “It was a very good at-bat.”
Williams’ pitch count sitting at a season-high 113 led to a no-brainer call to the bullpen. Lefty Tim Herrin got Colson Montgomery to hit a grounder to Lowe, who had the chance to record at least one out with the possibility of two. But his throw to shortstop Brayan Rocchio struck the back of Peters’ helmet.
Andrew Benintendi scored on the play, Chase Meidroth and Kyle Teel each had an ensuing RBI hit and Miguel Vargas then delivered the big blow with a two-run homer.
“It's just unfortunate to give up a free out like that when we're in a situation where I can bail our guys out,” Lowe said. “The throw just wasn't where it needed to be. The runner did a good job of getting where he needed to get, and I hit him right in the head.”
The Guardians, meanwhile, tallied just three runs on seven hits, including a two-run homer by David Fry with two outs in the ninth.
Every game matters this time of year. That’s the nature of where we are on the calendar. The Guardians also have opportunity ahead of them and can’t stew on this one for long.
“We have two more in this series,” Vogt said. “We know what we're up against. We know that there's an 11-game sprint to the end, but we can only take care of one at a time. This team hasn't let one loss get them down yet. I don't expect that to happen now.”