Gavin Williams Allows Three Home Runs In Guardians Loss

The Cleveland Guardians snapped a four-game winning streak and opened their second half with a 7-1 loss at the hands of the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday. Gavin Williams struck out 11 hitters, but also allowed three home runs, and that sealed his fate.

Williams fell to 10-5 on the season after surrendering five runs (all earned) in six innings of work. He didn’t walk anyone, but three of the seven hits he conceded left the park.

Argh.#GuardsBall pic.twitter.com/SUK6cPyE2l

— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) July 18, 2026

The Guardians, now 51-47, will try to get some revenge later on Saturday in the second game of the doubleheader. Cleveland is now one game behind the Chicago White Sox in the AL Central.

Williams tossed a scoreless first inning, but Jacob Gonzalez hit a two-run home run in the top of the second to give Pittsburgh a 2-0 lead at Progressive Field. Travis Bazzana would cut that lead to one run with an RBI triple at the bottom of the third frame, plating Steven Kwan, who had singled and extended his nice run at the plate since June 23.

Williams had actually settled down until the sixth inning, when he encountered more issues. Esmerlyn Valdez hit another two-run shot to put the score at 4-1, and then Nick Gonzales made it 5-1 with a long ball of his own. The Guardians’ starter managed to complete the frame, but the damage was done and the game was now out of hand.

Pittsburgh added two more runs in the eighth against right-hander Matt Festa, who had thrown a scoreless seventh but was asked to get more outs, and it backfired. A wild pitch allowed Brandon Lowe to score Pittsburgh’s sixth run, and Ryan O’Hearn drove in Bryan Reynolds with a sac fly to make things 7-1.

Kwan stayed hot after going 2-for-2 with a walk and a run. The Guardians’ offense could only muster six hits all afternoon, and that didn’t take them very far despite the pitching staff striking out 14 and not giving away any walks.

The two teams will face off again later on Saturday, at 7:10, with Logan Allen taking the mound for Cleveland and Braxton Ashcraft pitching for the Pirates.