Gavin Williams dominates as Guardians beat A's 8-2

CLEVELAND — The rest of the league is starting to notice just how dominant the Big Rig can be. Right-hander Gavin Williams (6-4) pitched a four-hitter Sunday in the Guardians' 8-2 victory over the Athletics in front of 25,855 at Progressive Field. The 6-foot-6, 250-pounder matched his career high with seven strong innings and walked just one batter. That's significant since he came into the game leading the majors with 57 walks and with 18.3 pitches per inning. The 25-year-old was nothing but efficient against the A's, as he fanned a season-high 11 batters — his first double-digit-strikeout game this year and third of his career. Williams made his career-high 20th start of the season and it came after an eight-day rest. Fans might not realize he made his major league debut against the A's a little more than two years ago on June 21, 2023. "The whole league is starting to notice how good he is and how good he's going to be," Guardians designated hitter David Fry said. "(We're) watching Gavin's trajectory pitching this year, the strides he's made and the work he's been going through." Williams earned his first victory since June 1 vs. the Angels. "He was outstanding," manager Stephen Vogt said. "He was down in the zone and had good counts the majority of the day. Gavin was special." Williams said his 5-4 record before the All-Star break was not acceptable. "Hopefully I can turn that around in the second half," he said. "It comes down to pounding the zone and not trying to be too fine with every pitch." The Guardians (48-50) wasted little time jumping on A's starter Jeffrey Springs (8-7). Angel Martinez led off the first with a double and scored on Fry's single. Three pitches in, and Cleveland had a 1-0 lead. Light-hitting Will Wilson led off the second with a double and scored on Austin Hedges' base hit for a 2-0 advantage. Fry is starting to catch fire at the right time. He cleared the bases with a two-out double down the left-field line, which gave him a career-high four RBIs on the day. A's left fielder Tyler Soderstrom didn't field the ball cleanly in the corner, which allowed Brayan Rocchio to score from first for a 5-0 edge. "David is one of our best hitters," Vogt said. "That was a huge double." The Guardians won two of three games in the series and host Baltimore tonight to start a four-game set. They've won eight of their last 10 games. "We'll keep winning series and see what happens," Vogt said. Springs exited after four innings and took the loss. The left-hander allowed nine hits and five runs and struck out four. Cleveland extended its lead to 6-1 when Martinez led off the seventh with his ninth home run of the season. It traveled an estimated 385 feet. Eleven of his last 14 hits have gone for extra bases. Martinez has filled in admirably for leadoff hitter Steven Kwan, who missed the A's series with a sore right wrist. Vogt said he expects Kwan to be in the lineup tonight. Martinez was 3-for-5 with a double, home run, two runs and two RBIs. He fell a triple shy of a cycle and recorded his fourth three-hit game of the season. "It's not an easy role to step into," Fry said of the leadoff spot. "He's a young dude with a lot of confidence. When he gets a good pitch, he runs into it and hits it really hard." Bob Finnan can be reached at rfinnan30@gmail.com.