Guardians' Gavin Williams joining extremely rare playoff company with pivotal ALDS Game 5 start vs. White Sox — SkimNews
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- Gavin Williams will start Game 5 after recording the final out of Game 4 in relief on 18 pitches, becoming the sixth pitcher since 1945 to start the next game in the same postseason series immediately after finishing the previous one.
- Sean Burke, the White Sox's top regular-season starter, gets the ball for Chicago in the elimination game at Progressive Field.
- Williams led the American League with 248 strikeouts in the regular season and struck out 11 White Sox hitters in five innings during his Game 2 start, allowing two runs on four hits.
- Manager Stephen Vogt handed the Game 5 start to Williams rather than rookie Parker Messick, who started and won Game 4 in Chicago.
- The most recent comparable case was Miguel Batista, who threw 12 relief pitches before striking out four with no walks over six innings in his 2001 NLDS start against the Cardinals.
- Williams is expected to be given at least one and possibly two trips through the White Sox lineup, with Cleveland's bullpen coming off an off day and an early hook always possible in an elimination game.
Why it matters: Vogt is asking Williams to do something almost no modern pitcher has done — work a relief appearance and start the next game in the same postseason series. Cleveland's season comes down to whether Williams can give them enough length after pitching two days ago, with the ALCS against Tampa Bay on the line for the winner.
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