CLEVELAND - In a back-and-forth pitching battle on Monday night, the long ball ultimately broke the stalemate.
Cavan Biggio ripped a go-ahead 2-run home run in the top of the 8th innings to give the Toronto Blue Jays a 3-1 victory over the Cleveland Guardians. Biggio roped the go-ahead bomb off reliever Enyel De Los Santos (4-2) for the first score in what was an otherwise low-scoring affair with solid openings for both starting pitchers.
Rookie right-hander Gavin Williams posted his best outing of the season, allowing just one hit and a walk while racking up 12 strikeouts in a no-decision effort. The 23-year-old posted the highest single-game strikeout total for a Cleveland pitcher since Luis Tiant fanned 12 Kansas City batters on Aug. 18, 1964.
Serving as acting manager while Terry Francona served his one-game suspension, Demarlo Hale described Williams's performance as "outstanding," while adding on the progress of his right-hander: "I think he realized he belongs. I think Bo Naylor is starting to get accustomed to this staff even more...It's really a natural growth that he's going through. There's a slow heartbeat that he has...and he goes about trying to execute pitches. Tonight was outstanding. They were on the same page."
Williams also became the first Cleveland rookie to record 12 strikeouts while allowing just one hit in a contest.
"From the start, I was just trying to throw it over the plate," said Williams, who later stated on his hot start: "I feel like I had all my pitches tonight, which is good. Just carrying that [feeling] through the whole game."
The only pitcher that started out hotter than Williams in Monday night’s game was Toronto starter Hyun-jin Ryu, who held the Guardians (54-59) hitless over the first three innings. However, Ryu - in his second start since returning from a damaged UCL and Tommy John surgery - took a sharp ground ball to the leg during the final out of the bottom of the third, prompting his removal from the game.
The Jays’ bullpen remained mostly unyielding and continued the no-hitter until the 5th, but did not earn their second hit of the game until the top of the 8th against De Los Santos. With Daulton Varsho on first, Biggio launched a 415-foot shot off De Los Santos to give the Jays the lead - on a changeup that, according to a Guardians player and coach, was meant to be a fastball.
"When the inning ended, [de los Santos] came in and...There was a miscommunication," Cleveland pitching coach Carl Willis commented after the game. "He took responsibility. Bo had actually called for a fastball, and I don't know if he already had the changeup grip, but he knew [it was] fastball. He threw a changeup, and, unfortunately, he [sic] threw it in a bad spot. Mistakes happen, you learn from them, and that was a mistake."
When asked about the call after the game, the rookie Naylor answered: "Yeah, I called a fastball there, and, I think it was a changeup that came. Just an unfortunate situation, but, we just tried to bounce back like we could and get some runs for him."
Naylor and the Guardians did bounce back in the bottom of the 8th inning when the hosts rapped back-to-back 1-out hits off Yimi García. After Tim Mayza entered in relief for Toronto, Naylor ripped a scoring single to cut the lead to 2-1. However, with the Jays’ infield playing inward, Biggio fielded a Steven Kwan grounder before tagging Naylor and finishing an unassisted double play to end the frame.
George Springer extended the Jays’ lead in the top of the 9th inning on an RBI single off Nick Sandlin. In the bottom half, Cleveland began a rally attempt against Blue Jays reliever Jordan Hicks with back-to-back singles. Hicks would recover and settle down the next two Cleveland hitters before walking Gabriel Arias to load the bases. However, Brayan Rocchio grounded out to short to end the contest.
Jays reliever Erik Swanson (1.0 innings, 2 K's) was credited with the win after nailing a scoreless 7th inning, boosting his record to 3-2.
The Guardians lost for the sixth time in their last seven contests. They will face the Blue Jays (64-50) on Tuesday (7:10 p.m. start), with Tanner Bible (7-2, 3.14 earned run average) expected to face Toronto left-hander Yusei Kikuchi (9-3, 3.67 ERA).