Gavin Williams struck out a career-best 13 over seven strong innings and was supported by three homers Tuesday night as the Cleveland Guardians defeated the visiting Toronto Blue Jays 6-1.
Williams (13-7) held the Blue Jays to one unearned run on two hits and one walk in the opener of an important three-game series.
The Guardians (70-68) lead the Blue Jays (68-71) by 2 1/2 games in a tight race for the third American League wild card. The Baltimore Orioles and Texas Rangers are close behind Cleveland, too.
Patrick Bailey, Angel Genao and Angel Martinez each socked a two-run homer for the Guardians. Martinez and Jo Adell had two hits apiece.
Spencer Miles and Ricky Tiedemann each pitched a scoreless inning for the Blue Jays before listed starter Spencer Arrighetti (7-8) took over in the third. Arrighetti lasted 3 2/3 innings, yielding two runs on two hits and a walk with two strikeouts.
Toronto opened the scoring with a gift run against Williams in the fifth. Kazuma Okamoto led off with a single, and he was running with one out on a 3-2 count to Ernie Clement. The pitch was ball four, but Bailey, Cleveland’s catcher, threw to second anyway. The ball skipped into the outfield, allowing Okamoto to take third. Okamoto later scampered home on a wild pitch.
Cleveland took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth. Martinez led off with a walk and scored with one out when Bailey belted a 3-1 fastball over the left field wall.
Williams struck out the side in the seventh to surpass his previous career-best strikeout total of 12, accomplished three times.
The Guardians added to their lead in the bottom of the seventh against Joe Mantiply. Martinez led off with a single and trotted home when Genao, pinch-hitting for Travis Bazzana, clubbed a home run to left on a first-pitch sinker.
Adell singled in the eighth against Michael Lorenzen, and Martinez homered to right-center on a 2-0 curve.
Cleveland’s Matt Festa pitched around a ninth-inning single to close the game in a non-save situation.
–Field Level Media
