Guardians Beat Jays In Opener Behind Gavin Williams’ Masterpiece

Gavin Williams sure picked a very opportune time to deliver his best start of the season. The Cleveland Guardians right-hander allowed a single unearned run in seven innings to lead his team past the Toronto Blue Jays in Tuesday’s series opener at Progressive Field. The 6-1 score is a bit misleading, though, as it was a one-run game until the seventh.

Williams, now 13-7, surrendered just a couple of hits and a walk, striking out a whopping 13 Blue Jays on his way to the win. His 3.81 season ERA doesn’t do justice to how dominant he has looked at times.

Bye Bye Birdies.#GuardsBall | #GuardiWWins pic.twitter.com/FaCPULxehZ

— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) September 2, 2026

The Guardians are now 70-68 and look determined to secure their place in the postseason and, potentially, challenge the Chicago White Sox for the AL Central lead.

It was a scoreless game until the top of the fifth. There, Toronto took advantage of a throwing error from catcher Patrick Bailey and, later, a wild pitch by Williams to score its first and only run.

Bailey would redeem himself in the bottom of the inning. With Angel Martinez on base, he belted his eighth homer of the year to center field. Just like that, Cleveland was up 2-1 and wouldn’t relinquish control of the game after that.

Another two-run shot, this time by Angel Genao in the seventh, would extend the Guardians’ lead to 4-1. It was the rookie’s second big fly since coming up this summer.

Yet another two-run home run would make it a 6-1 ballgame. This time, Martinez was the one making the loud contact and bringing Petey Halpin with him.

Thanks to Williams’ heroics and the offense’s late charge, it was a light game for the bullpen. Hunter Gaddis tossed a scoreless eighth, earning his 28th hold of the year, and Matt Festa brought his ERA down to 3.55 with a spotless ninth.

Martinez went 2-for-3 with three runs scored, a homer, and two RBI. Bailey went 1-for-3 and drove in two with his power showing.

The series will continue on Wednesday in Cleveland. The Guardians will face leading AL Cy Young Award candidate Dylan Cease (9-5, 2.33), and Cleveland will counter with left-hander Joey Cantillo (9-7, 3.70).