CLEVELAND — Gavin Williams delivered a historic start two days after pitching in relief, striking out 12 over 5 2/3 scoreless innings to lead Cleveland to a 2-0 win over the Chicago White Sox in the winner-take-all Game 5 of the American League Division Series on Saturday at Progressive Field.
Williams allowed just one hit, two walks and a hit batter while tying the franchise postseason record of 12 strikeouts set by Charles Nagy in Game 4 of the 1996 ALDS. Cleveland struck out 21 batters overall, setting a postseason record for a nine-inning game, and advanced to the American League Championship Series against the Rays beginning Monday night at Tropicana Field.
The outing came after Williams made an emergency one-inning, 18-pitch relief appearance in Game 4 on Thursday against the White Sox and then called for the ball for Game 5. Manager Stephen Vogt said the Williams he first met two years ago was quiet and reserved and would not have stepped up in that spot. “He knows who he is as a pitcher now and believes in that,” Vogt said. “I’ve just seen somebody gain more and more confidence in himself.”
Williams quickly erased any fatigue concerns. He faced one batter over the minimum through three innings with six strikeouts, issuing only a walk to Tristan Peters in the second. He struck out three in the second, two in the third, struck out the side in the fourth and added two more in the fifth. He also tied the Yankees’ Cam Schlittler for the second-most strikeouts in a win-or-go-home postseason game, one shy of the record set by the Tigers’ Tarik Skubal in Game 5 of the 2025 ALDS, and joined the Blue Jays’ Trey Yesavage (Game 2 of the 2025 ALDS) as the only pitchers with 11-plus strikeouts and zero hits allowed in the first five innings of a postseason game.
His bid for a no-hitter ended when Kyle Teel singled in the sixth, and his night ended after a two-out walk to Miguel Vargas loaded the bases. Williams exited to a standing ovation and was fired up in the third-base dugout when Erik Sabrowski struck out Munetaka Murakami to end the threat and preserve the shutout. The victory followed Guardians and White Sox Set for ALDS Game 5 in Cleveland earlier in the series.