The Cleveland Guardians haven’t had a no-hitter in 44 years. Gavin Williams almost broke that streak.
The ECU alum came within two outs of throwing a no-hitter against the New York Mets. Instead, he missed the mark by two outs. Juan Soto hit a solo homer to break up the no-no before Brandon Nimmo walked for the third time (Williams walked four overall) to end his night.
“Man, it was that close,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “I thought he was going to get it.”
Hunter Gaddis got the last out for his second save to complete the Guardians’ sweep. It was the second time in four days a former ECU pitcher beat the Mets. Rookie Carson Whisenhunt got his first MLB win over the Mets last Sunday for the San Francisco Giants.
Gavin Williams (AP photo)
Williams’ no-hit bid was saved in the seventh inning by a quick play where he threw Francisco Lindor out after a liner he hit knocked Williams’ glove.
“It scared me, I will say that,” Williams said of Lindor’s liner. “I thought I was going to have to change pants or something. And then Alonso did the same thing and I thought I was really going to have to.”
Len Barker was the last Cleveland pitcher to throw a no-hitter, doing it on May 15, 1981.
According to The Associated Press, Williams finished at 126 pitches, the most in the majors since Alex Cobb threw 131 in a one-hit complete game for the San Francisco Giants on Aug. 29, 2023. His no-hit bid was the longest for Cleveland since Carlos Carrasco had his no-hitter broken up with two outs in the ninth inning by Tampa Bay’s Joey Butler on July 1, 2015.
Williams improved to 7-4 with the win, walking four and striking out six, including one to start the ninth inning.
“Heck no,” Williams said with a grin about the thought of throwing a no-hitter before the start of the game. “After that, I thought it was going to go one way. And it was not the way I thought.”
Photo credit: Gavin Williams (AP photo)
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