Williams K's 8, escapes early trouble as Guardians take opener

CLEVELAND -- Gavin Williams spun an 89 mph sweeper to Nick Castellanos in the first inning on Friday, nailing the outside corner down and away. Williams got the Phillies' right fielder to swing and miss at the full-count offering to escape a second-and-third threat.

Williams worked around traffic and an early elevated pitch count to deliver a solid start on Friday, as the Guardians took a 6-0 win over the Phillies in the series opener at Progressive Field. The big right-hander threw five scoreless innings on 98 pitches, struck out eight and allowed four hits (all singles) and four walks.

“I thought it was a huge improvement from last time out,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “Gavin, still a little bit of command, right. Still a little bit of the efficiency missing. But I thought the quality of his offspeed tonight, throwing strikes with it, used the cutter a little bit more tonight -- I thought the mix was really good. …

“Definitely a huge step in the right direction for Gavin. A lot of promise.”

Williams has imposing stuff. He’s also still in the early stage of his Major League career, and there’s an expected learning curve that comes with that.

Williams had his best start of the season on April 21, when he held the Yankees to two runs on seven hits over 6 2/3 innings. But he dealt with inconsistency and inefficiency his past two outings. On April 28, Williams threw 61 pitches in two innings and allowed four runs on seven hits and two walks vs. the Twins. On Saturday, he threw 100 pitches in four innings and allowed two runs on seven hits and five walks to the Blue Jays.

Vogt noted on Friday that Williams has been hard at work with the Guardians’ pitching team over the past week. One thing the Guardians and the right-hander identified is when he’s thinking down in the zone, it keeps him in his delivery better.

“Trying to go fastballs down and then cutters, sliders off of that, really,” Williams said. “I've been just throwing the ball up in the zone way too much. So just changing the eye level to the hitter. Even if I throw it below the zone, that doesn't really matter. It's a heater down rather than a heater up.”

Vogt felt Williams was moving better on the mound on Friday. It showed in key spots against a good Phillies lineup. Williams struck out Kyle Schwarber in the first on a 97.8 mph four-seamer belt high on the inner half of the plate, and then got Castellanos with the slider down and away.

In the second, Williams struck out Max Kepler on an 83.8 mph curveball on the outside corner, Johan Rojas on an 88.4 mph sweeper down and Rafael Marchán on an 84.8 mph curve down out of the zone.

Philadelphia loaded the bases in the fourth, on a Kepler walk, Alec Bohm single and Rojas walk. Williams worked out of that two-out jam by getting Marchán to ground out to shortstop Gabriel Arias.

“He made some good pitches and has really good stuff,” Phillies shortstop Trea Turner said. “It's whether or not he's locating. We took our walks but then he was filling up the zone and made some good pitches."

Williams threw 29 pitches in the first inning and 27 in the fourth. But he was able to make pitches in key spots against a good lineup, and he kept them off the scoreboard. The work he put in between starts began to translate on Friday.

“I still have a long ways to go,” Williams said of the work he’s been doing behind the scenes. “I mean, I'm not perfect right now, but it's going to get there.”

The Guardians’ offense backed Williams by hitting three homers. Kyle Manzardo hit a solo blast in the fourth off Phillies starter Aaron Nola; Angel Martínez hit a two-run blast in the fifth; and José Ramírez hit a solo shot off right-hander Joe Ross in the seventh.

Martínez has continued to produce for the Guardians since Cleveland recalled him from Triple-A Columbus on April 9. He’s hitting .325 in 25 games and is showing maturity at the plate. Martínez popped out to Turner in the third inning, on a second-pitch changeup by Aaron Nola down and away. He recalibrated for his next at-bat.

“I know I'm an aggressive hitter, and I feel the league has been making an adjustment,” Martínez said. “The first AB, I felt like I swung at something that I shouldn't have. So then the second AB was to be patient.