PHILADELPHIA — Gavin Williams never threw a sweeper until last season and has since mastered the side-to-side breaking ball to the point where, after he stymied the Phillies over eight shutout innings, he might earn a return trip to Philadelphia later this summer.
As an All-Star.
Williams was never better for the Cleveland Guardians this season than he was on a rainy Friday in Philadelphia. He struck out 11 and matched last season’s National League Cy Young Award runner-up, Cristopher Sanchez, 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 a 1-0 victory for their seventh straight win.
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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 score 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.
“Any 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,” 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.
Kyle Manzardo delivered his second pinch-hit homer of the season, preserving Gavin Williams’ stellar outing in a 1-0 Guardians win. Terence Lewis/Icon Sportswire
“The whole ballpark knows he’s running,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “Unbelievable throw and a really good catch-and-tag by [Travis Bazzana].
Sanchez and Williams matched up in a classic pitchers’ 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’s Ryan Weathers and Detroit’s Reese Olson on May 14, 2024.
“What a beautiful game,” Vogt said. “If you like pitching, you would have really liked tonight’s game. Sanchez, that’s special. Gavin matched him inning-for-inning.”
Williams made NL batting champion Trea Turner look bad on a flailed check-swing on a sweeper for his ninth strikeout. He froze Kyle Schwarber, who was back in the lineup after missing three games because of an illness, on a 97.5 mph sinker for his 10th strikeout.
“I feel like I had a little bit of everything,” Williams said.
J.T. Realmuto singled off Williams with one out in the eighth inning. Williams then got left-handed rookie Justin Crawford to ground into an inning-ending double play.
“That’s our horse,” Hedges said. “He’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.”
Sanchez 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 this season.
Coming off his first shutout of the season, Sanchez ran his scoreless streak to 37⅔ 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.
“I’ve never felt like this, with the way the mechanics are feeling and the way my body is feeling,” Sanchez said through an interpreter. “I think it’s something I’ve never felt like before. I feel grateful because of what I’m going through right now. I feel like it’s a lot because of the work I put in.”
Sanchez has four straight starts with at least seven scoreless innings, tied for the longest streak in franchise history with Alexander in 1911.
“I don’t know if I’ve seen anything quite like it,” Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly said. “He’s pretty amazing every time out. He seemingly makes it look easy, and obviously, it’s not.”
