Guardians' Gavin Williams brings moxie to mound vs. Rangers

Gavin Williams has earned the reputation as the Cleveland Guardians' "stopper" over a season that's seen him lead the rotation in ERA.

Williams will put that reputation to the test on Sunday afternoon when he heads to the mound for the Guardians, who will try to salvage the finale of a three-game series against the Texas Rangers in Arlington, Texas.

It will be a battle of right-handers as Williams (8-4, 3.24 ERA) will oppose Merrill Kelly (9-7, 3.35) of the Rangers.

Texas has taken the first two games of this series between American League wild-card hopefuls. They did so in a definitive fashion in a 10-0 win Saturday behind home runs from Cody Freeman, Josh Jung and Adolis Garcia and seven scoreless innings from rookie Jack Leiter.

Williams, meanwhile, threw 5 1/3 scoreless innings in his most recent start, a 3-1 victory Monday against the Arizona Diamondbacks. He allowed just four singles and struck out five while producing his fifth scoreless appearance this season.

Williams is 3-0 and has allowed more than three runs on one occasion since recording his last loss, which came July 1 against the Chicago Cubs. Williams flirted with a no-hitter on Aug. 6 vs. the New York Mets, allowing one hit -- a home run -- with one out in the ninth inning in a 4-1 victory. He pitched 8 2/3 innings.

"The way Gavin has thrown over the last few months, he has definitely taken the reins as far as leading this pitching staff," Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said. "The way he's been throwing, we have a lot of confidence whenever Gavin takes the mound. When he's been executing, he's one of the best."

Williams is 1-1 with a 2.45 ERA in two career starts against Texas covering 11 innings. Both those appearances against the Rangers came in 2023.

Kelly produced his best outing of his four starts with the Rangers in his most recent appearance. He allowed two runs on two hits over six innings and posted a no-decision on Tuesday in a game the Rangers lost 5-2 in Kansas City. Both hits were solo home runs, however.

He left after just 71 pitches with right hamstring cramps.

Kelly, obtained by Texas from Arizona at the trade deadline last month, is 0-1 in with a 4.09 ERA with his new team. The Rangers have lost three of Kelly's starts and have a combined 13 runs in those games -- six runs came on Aug. 2 when they won in 11 innings in Seattle.

This will mark the first time he will face the Guardians in his 166-game career. Cleveland is the only team Kelly has yet to face.

On Saturday, the Rangers moved second baseman Marcus Semien to the 10-day injured list with a left foot injury he sustained in Thursday's loss in Kansas City. It's just the second time in his MLB career that Semien has landed on the injured list.

--Field Level Media