The Cleveland Guardians took care of the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday by a score of 4-2 and will look to win the series on Sunday. It was a much-needed victory given the fact that they were in danger of dropping two out of three games in three consecutive series, but Cleveland can end that mini-skid with Joey Cantillo taking the mound Sunday, aiming to finish off the O’s.
The star of the show on Saturday was starting pitcher Gavin Williams, who twirled seven strong innings, giving up only three hits, one run, one walk, and striking out 11. After a streak of bullpen meltdowns, Williams delivered exactly the performance the team needed and now leads the majors in an impressive stat.
Williams currently stands alone atop of the strikeout leaderboard. Williams now has 40 K’s on the year, putting him one ahead of Jose Soriano of the Los Angeles Angels.
“MLB’s current strikeout leaders:
GAVIN WILLIAMS (40)
Jose Soriano (39)
Cam Schlittler (36)
Cristopher Sanchez (35)
Taj Bradley (34),” Wild wrote.
MLB's current strikeout leaders:
GAVIN WILLIAMS (40)
Jose Soriano (39)
Cam Schlittler (36)
Cristopher Sanchez (35)
Taj Bradley (34)#GuardsBall https://t.co/0Xtx34QTGk— Tommy Wild (@ByTommyWild) April 19, 2026
Aside from Parker Messick, Cleveland’s starters have struggled to go deep into games all year, but Williams was able to hand the ball directly to Hunter Gaddis and Cade Smith to finish things off. It was the type of pitching performance fans were hoping to see a lot more of, and the fact that starters have routinely been exiting after four or five innings has overexposed this bullpen through the first few weeks of the season.
Williams has now gone at least five innings in all five of his starts and surrendered a paltry 13 hits in 29.2 innings over that span. Both he and Messick have been exceptional so far, and the next step is to see them routinely get into the seventh and eighth innings to continue helping out this bullpen.
Williams is showing legitimate signs of putting together a breakout campaign at age 26. He was great last year as evidenced by his 12-5 record and 3.06 ERA, but through five starts he looks like a Cy Young candidate.
If he and Messick can prove this start isn’t a fluke, it would go a long way toward carrying this team through the summer and into another postseason berth. Hopefully, the rest of the rotation and pitching staff fall in line right behind them.
NEXT: Jose Ramirez Is Leading MLB In Impressive Category
