Guardians’ Gavin Williams Nearly Completes No-Hitter Against Mets
History was nearly made in Queens during Wednesday’s contest between the Cleveland Guardians and New York Mets.
Right-hander Gavin Williams entered the ninth inning, pitching with a 4-0 lead and a no-hitter intact while scheduled to face the heart of the Mets’ batting order, featuring Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto and Pete Alonso. He retired Lindor via strikeout, but proceeded to allow a solo home run from Soto, finishing two outs shy of the no-no.
Williams induced a flyout from Alonso and walked Brandon Nimmo before being lifted at 126 pitches, the most thrown by any major league pitcher this season. Reliever Hunter Gaddis recorded the final out of the ninth to cap off a three-game sweep of the Mets, moving the Guardians within 1.5 games of the final AL wild-card seed.
Prior to Wednesday, the deepest that Williams had pitched into a start was seven innings, which he had done four separate times in his career. But there was zero hesitation about leaving him in against the Mets, especially considering his final pitch of the game was a 95.9 mph fastball.
“The velo was still there,” manager Stephen Vogt told reporters post-game, including MLB.com’s Bill Ladson. “The stuff was crisp. I didn’t dare ask him how he was feeling. I didn’t talk to [pitching coach Carl Willis] or [associate manager Craig Albernaz] the whole game. With a four-run lead, you have to let him go. You don’t know how many chances these pitchers are going to have to do it. He was going to get the whole way.”
The Guardians continue to own the longest active no-hitter drought in the majors, with Len Barker’s perfect game versus the Toronto Blue Jays occurring on May 15, 1981. But the franchise has witnessed a few close calls since then.
Carlos Carrasco was the last Guardians pitcher to carry a no-hitter into the ninth inning before Williams flirted with history on Wednesday. But he also came up short against the Tampa Bay Rays on July 1, 2015, losing his no-hit bid with one out in the ninth.
“That was some kind of special, especially how [Williams] started,” Vogt said. “He started more balls than strikes. He was able to pitch his way out of it. It was so impressive for him and then he settled in.
“He and [catcher Austin Hedges] got into a really good rhythm. Heggie called an unbelievable game, but all the credit goes to Gavin, just keeping the Mets off the scoreboard inning after inning. Not letting them get anything going, outside of the early innings. It was that close. I thought he was going to get it.”
Despite the disappointing outcome, it was still an incredible performance by Williams, who induced 13 groundouts and punched out six, albeit while walking four. And the opposing crowd at Citi Field made sure to appreciate his outing as he walked off the field to a standing ovation.
“It’s nice, especially getting that from a different team’s fan base. It’s awesome,” Williams said. “It doesn’t usually happen. I appreciate it from them.”
This season started poorly for Williams, who struggled to a 5.06 ERA and 5.02 FIP over his first seven starts in 2025, walking 13 percent of the batters he faced and allowing six home runs in that span. Though he’s continued to battle his command at times since then, he’s posted a much-improved 2.52 ERA across his last 16 starts.
After sweeping the Mets, it’s now off to Chicago for the surging Guardians, who’ll look to continue their winning ways against the White Sox before returning home for a favourable stretch versus the Miami Marlins and Atlanta Braves.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @Hall_Thomas_
Photo: Erik Drost. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.