Dude, you hear about this? Gavin Williams, after literally just coming out of the bullpen on Thursday night to close out Game 4, is gonna start Game 5 for the Cleveland Guardians against Sean Burke and the Chicago White Sox on Saturday. It’s winner-take-all, man, and Williams wants it. Guardians manager Stephen Vogt was straight up about it, saying Friday, “Gavin wants the ball. We want him to have the ball, and it’s his game.” Seriously, that’s the kind of fire you want from your ace when your season is on the line.
Williams Is Wired For This Moment, Even After Dominating In Relief
This isn’t just some regular start, right? Williams made his first big league relief appearance ever in that Game 4 win in Chicago, getting the final three outs. He was the eighth Cleveland pitcher that night, coming in after All-Star closer Cade Smith got into a jam with Miguel Vargas homering and Munetaka Murakami drawing a walk in the ninth. Williams threw 18 pitches, gave up just one hit, and struck out one batter to seal the 9-5 win and knot the series up at two games apiece. And then, like a total legend, he just walked by Vogt’s office after the game and told him he was ready for Game 5. “The body feels good right now. I’ve been in the training room all morning, just figuring it out. But it’s just a normal day really,” Williams said, adding that he throws a bullpen on those days anyway. This dude is built different! He had a monster regular season, going 14-8 with a 3.76 ERA and leading the AL with 248 strikeouts.
His Game 2 performance, a 4-3 loss, was a mixed bag but showed his absolute nastiness. He whiffed 11 batters over five-plus innings and even became the first pitcher in franchise history to strike out five straight guys in a postseason game. Oh, and he threw 16 pitches over 100 mph, which is the fourth-most by an AL pitcher in a playoff game since they started tracking that stuff in 2008! He threw 98 pitches, 59 for strikes, allowing two runs and four hits, but got into trouble by letting the leadoff hitter get on base in the fourth, fifth, and sixth. The Guardians were up 2-0 before the White Sox put up three runs in the sixth to take the lead.
The Showdown: Williams Against Burke and the ChiSox
This is gonna be Williams’ sixth start and seventh appearance against the White Sox this season. So far, he’s 0-1 with a 3.76 ERA, 40 strikeouts, and 11 walks against them. He’s not sugarcoating it, either: “They’re still a hard team to pitch to. There’s nothing really to learn at this point of the season. I know what they’ve got, and they know what I’ve got.” On the other side, Sean Burke is making his fifth appearance and third start against Cleveland this year, and he’s been lights out, holding a 3-0 record with a ridiculous 1.19 ERA. He came into Game 2 in the third inning and got the win, retiring 13 straight batters at one point, giving up just one run and one hit with six strikeouts. Burke’s key is command, saying, “I think I did a pretty good job of commanding all my stuff in the zone. I think that’s kind of the key with this team.” Interestingly, this will be the first time in seven postseason games that the White Sox are rolling with a traditional starter. It’s a true high-stakes chess match.
So, get ready for Saturday night, folks. This is it. Winner goes home, loser goes fishing. With Williams demanding the ball and having that kind of fire, you know the Guardians are leaving everything out there!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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