CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Gavin Williams (2-5, 3.43 ERA) will start for Cleveland in the series finale against Texas.
Williams will try to have a better outing than he did in his first career start against the Rangers earlier this season. The rookie right-hander pitched five innings, allowed two earned runs, walked four batters, and was charged with a loss on July 15th.
The Guardians were held to zero runs in that game. Since debuting on June 21st, Williams has received 3.73 average runs of support per outing which is ninth-lowest in the majors.
Opposing Williams will be Cody Bradford (4-1, 3.80 ERA) for the Rangers. He allowed two runs on three hits with five strikeouts in three innings in his only career start against Cleveland.
Bradford has made 17 appearances for the Rangers this season, six of which have been starts. His last start came on July 30th in San Diego, and he owns a 1-1 record with a 4.73 ERA in his six career starts.
Broomsticks – The Guardians are looking for their second series sweep of the season. The only series sweep for Cleveland this year came against the Oakland Athletics on June 20th-22nd.
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Under Terry Francona’s tenure, the Guardians are 41-22 against the Rangers. That marks Cleveland’s second-best win-loss record (42-22 vs. LAA) against any MLB opponent and Texas’ worst win-loss record against any MLB opponent since 2013.
A Rangers victory would secure the club’s first season series win over Cleveland in seven years. Texas has been swept in a series five times this season, two of which were on the road.
J-RAM’s B-DAY – September 17th marks the 31st birthday of Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez.
Ramirez has played seven games on his birthday and has a .345 batting average with three home runs. He’s tallied a hit in his last six games played on his birthday.
If Ramirez records a stolen base in the series finale, he would join Mike Trout, Jose Altuve, and Andrew McCutchen as the only active MLB players with 200 or more career home runs and stolen bases.
Do we have a race? – Cleveland sits seven games behind Minnesota in the AL Central coming into Sunday’s series finale.
Both the Guardians and Twins are 5-5 in their last 10 games. The Twins wrap up a four-game road series against the White Sox on Sunday. The Guardians and Twins have 13 regular-season games left to be played.
The Twins tend to struggle in the second half of the season, but they hold a 33-25 record since the All-Star break in 2023. That includes three head-to-head wins over Cleveland. The Guardians are 26-33 in that same stretch.