'Gavin Williams is nasty': Righty powers Guardians to sixth straight win 

DETROIT -- Pitch by pitch, foul ball by foul ball, the battle between Gavin Williams and Riley Greene in the first inning on Wednesday continued. Williams’ pitch count rose with each ball Greene sent out of play, and the Guardians risked falling into an early hole.

The Tigers had runners on first and second with two outs when Williams, on his 12th pitch of the at-bat, got Greene to swing through a 3-2 curveball in the dirt to get out of the inning.

“It was exhausting,” Williams said. “He's a good hitter, but he was fouling off everything. Good pitches, bad pitches. I thought I was about to throw a knuckleball up there or something to get him off of it.”

That sequence in the Guardians’ 4-0 win at Comerica Park provides a snapshot of the growth we have witnessed from Williams this season. On a night when he perhaps did not have his best stuff and his pitch count was elevated early, he still did enough to help Cleveland win.

Williams held Detroit to three hits and two walks with nine strikeouts on 100 pitches (67 for strikes). He finished five innings despite the Tigers fouling off 28 of his offerings (a season high against him) and his pitch count sitting at 49 through two.

“To be able to navigate through five … it was really impressive for Gavin, keeping them off the scoreboard,” said manager Stephen Vogt after the Guardians closed out their season-high sixth consecutive win. “We just continue to see the growth in Gavin.

“Even on a night where he was not sharp, he did a great job.”

Williams’ effort paved the way for Cleveland (80-71) to narrow its deficit in the American League Central to 4 1/2 games. It’s as close as the Guardians have been to the division-leading Tigers (85-67) since May 25, when they fell to five games back following a 5-0 loss in Detroit. They are 12-4 in September.

The win ensured that Cleveland kept pace with the Red Sox and Mariners, who are tied with a 2 1/2-game lead for the final AL Wild Card spots.

Earlier this season, Williams was susceptible to delivering an inefficient performance that left folks feeling frustrated, including himself. His potential and imposing stuff were evident, but through May, he had tossed five or fewer innings in eight of his 11 starts.

Four months ago, Williams might have had a short night after a start such as Wednesday's. Instead, he and catcher Bo Naylor powered through the first few taxing innings.

“The way Bo was behind the plate helped me out tremendously,” Williams said. "Just got to a point, we’re setting up down the middle just to see if we can land something. I couldn't really land anything -- definitely not the offspeed -- but we got through it.”

Williams leaned heavily on his curveball, throwing it 36 times, his most in a start this season. The 18 sinkers he threw were his third most in a start.

The Guardians carried a 1-0 lead in the fourth when the Tigers threatened again. Greene worked another long plate appearance, this time drawing a 10-pitch walk. Williams got past it by getting Dillon Dingler to fly out to Steven Kwan (who made a nice running catch in left-center) and Colt Keith to strike out on a curveball down and inside.

"Gavin Williams is nasty,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “Those breaking balls are real, legit, chase pitches, and he can run it up there near 100 [mph]."

“[Williams is] special. He's very important to this team, this pitching staff,” Naylor said. “The things that he's done, the growth he's had, it's amazing. To be able to go out there and do it every day, it's hard.

“… To be able to go out there, mix and match, and get as many outs as possible, and continue to put up games like he's done, I think it speaks for itself.”

Williams improved his ERA to 3.06 in his 30th start. He’s been an anchor for Cleveland's rotation for several months now, with a 2.44 ERA in 14 starts since July 1. As the Guardians aim to push their way into October, he continues to be a key reason why.

“We’re seeing it with Gavin time in and time out now,” Vogt said. “No matter what he's got, he's going out and competing and giving us a chance."