NEW YORK -- Guardians right-hander Gavin Williams came just two outs away from ending the Guardians' 44-year no-hitter drought on Wednesday at Citi Field before Juan Soto homered for the Mets' first hit with one out in the ninth inning.
Cleveland hasn't had a no-hitter since Len Barker's perfect game against the Blue Jays on May 15, 1981. It is the longest active no-hitter drought in the Majors.
Williams struck out Francisco Lindor to lead off the ninth before allowing Soto’s home run on his 117th pitch of the afternoon. He retired Pete Alonso on a flyout then walked Brandon Nimmo before manager Stephen Vogt pulled him at 126 pitches, the most pitches thrown in MLB this year.
Hunter Gaddis got Mark Vientos to fly out to center to seal Cleveland’s 4-1 win and complete a series sweep of the Mets.
Williams has been dealing for the last three months, going 4-2 with a 2.75 ERA (27 earned runs in 88 1/3 innings) over his previous 16 starts entering Wednesday. His ERA during that span was the fourth-lowest mark in the American League.
Williams was even better against the Mets in the finale. Other than the four walks he allowed, Williams was able to get 13 ground-ball outs while striking out six batters. It helped that he has added a cutter to his repertoire. Ever since he has added that pitch on May 21, opponents are hitting under .200 against it.
When he left the game with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Williams was given a standing ovation from the Citi Field crowd.
The only time the Mets had runners in scoring position was in the second. The Mets were able to draw two walks, but the runners were left stranded when Luis Torrens flied out to center fielder Angel Martínez to end the inning.
New York came close to getting its first hit in the seventh inning, but right fielder C.J. Kayfus made a diving catch on a pop fly off the bat of Vientos.
The Guardians gave Williams all the runs he needed by the third inning. In the second, with Mets left-hander David Peterson on the mound, David Fry gave Cleveland a 1-0 lead by hitting his sixth home run of the season.
An inning later, Martínez gave the Guardians a three-run lead by hitting a two-run homer. Cleveland then added to the lead three innings later, when Carlos Santana scored on a triple by Gabriel Arias.