Williams goes pitch-for-pitch against Phillies' ace Sánchez. Both were sharp in Cleveland's 1-0 win
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — 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 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 Sánchez, 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, 1-0 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. “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. “The whole ballpark knows he's running,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said.