PHILADELPHIA (AP) 鈥� Gavin Williams never threw until last season and has since mastered the side-to-side breaking ball to the point where 鈥� after he stymied the Phillies over eight shutout innings 鈥� he might earn a return trip to Philadelphia later this summer.
As an All-Star.
Williams was never better for Cleveland this season than he was on a rainy Friday in Philadelphia. He struck out 11 and matched last season’s NL Cy Young Award runner-up, Cristopher S谩nchez, with eight scoreless innings.
Kyle Manzardo delivered for Cleveland in a pinch.
Manzardo hit a pinch-hit homer off Phillies closer Jhoan Duran in the ninth inning to preserve a terrific outing for Williams and lead the Guardians to their seventh straight win, over Philadelphia.
This was the first time in franchise history the Guardians won a game 1-0 where the run came on a pinch-hit homer. Manzardo was the first Guardians player to snap a tie game in the ninth inning with a pinch-hit homer since Jason Giambi on Sept. 24, 2013, against the Chicago White Sox.
Oh, and Manzardo was simply trying to hit a double.
鈥淎ny time you’re coming off the bench, especially against a closer that’s throwing 100, just making sure I get that foot down because I hadn’t had previous at-bats to test timing,鈥� Manzardo said.
His timing was perfect.
Manzardo’s second pinch-hit homer of the season made a winner out of Williams (7-3) after the 6-foot-6 right hander recorded his seventh double-digit strikeout game of his career and third this season.
Williams escaped the seventh when he struck out Adolis Garcia and catcher Austin Hedges threw out Brandon Marsh at second on a steal attempt to end the inning.
鈥淭he whole ballpark knows he’s running,鈥� Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “Unbelievable throw and a really good catch-and-tag by (Travis Bazzana).
S谩nchez and Williams matched up in a classic pitchers鈥� duel where each tossed eight shutout innings in front of 38,092 fans. They were the first opposing starters to each pitch at least eight scoreless innings since Miami鈥檚 Ryan Weathers and Detroit鈥檚 Reese Olson on May 14, 2024.
鈥淲hat a beautiful game,鈥� Vogt said. 鈥淚f you like pitching, you would have really liked tonight’s game. S谩nchez, that’s special. Gavin matched him inning-for-inning.鈥�
Williams made NL batting champion Trea Turner look bad on a flailed check-swing on a sweeper for his ninth strikeout. He then froze Kyle Schwarber, back in the lineup after with an illness, on a 97.5 mph sinker for his 10th strikeout.
鈥淚 feel like I had a little bit of everything,鈥� Williams said.
J.T. Realmuto singled off Williams with one out in the eighth inning. Williams then retired left-handed rookie Justin Crawford to ground into an inning-ending double play.
鈥淭hat’s our horse,鈥� Hedges said. 鈥淗e’s got a lot of pitches that are very effective, used at the right times. He just executed all of them. This lineup doesn’t give you many mistakes, and he just didn’t give in and make many mistakes. The results speak for itself.鈥�
S谩nchez was just as stout in a game that needed only 2 hours, 5 minutes.
He tossed four-hit ball over eight innings and struck out six. He threw 96 pitches and lowered his ERA to a staggering 1.62 on the season.
Coming off his first shutout of the season, S谩nchez ran his scoreless streak to 37 2/3 innings, which moved him past Cliff Lee (34 innings) into second place and within striking distance of the franchise record for consecutive scoreless innings. Grover Cleveland Alexander tossed 41 straight innings in one stretch in the 1911 season.
鈥淚鈥檝e never felt like this, with the way the mechanics are feeling and the way my body is feeling,鈥� S谩nchez said through an interpreter. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 something I鈥檝e never felt like before. I feel grateful because of what I鈥檓 going through right now. I feel like it鈥檚 a lot because of the work I put in.鈥�
S谩nchez has four straight starts with at least seven scoreless innings, tied for the longest streak in franchise history with Alexander in 1911.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if I鈥檝e seen anything quite like it,鈥� Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 pretty amazing every time out. He seemingly makes it look easy, and obviously, it鈥檚 not.鈥�
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