Gavin Williams mows down 13 Blue Jays for series-opening Guardians win

Toronto loses ground in AL wild card race as Cleveland fireballer leads way for hosts in 6-1 victory

Published Sep 01, 2026  •  Last updated 6 minutes ago  •  2 minute read

George Springer of the Toronto Blue Jays reacts after striking out to end the top of the sixth inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026, in Cleveland, Ohio. Photo by Nick Cammett /Getty Images

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The Blue Jays ran into a real one on Tuesday night in Cleveland.

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The timing couldn’t have been worse.

It came at the start of a series that is arguably the most important of the 2026 season, both for the Jays and possibly for the host Guardians as well, who got out to a better start than the visitors courtesy of their big right-handed starter in what would become a 6-1 win.

Both teams are among the five battling it out for the final wild card spot in the American League, so the stakes are obviously high.

Gavin Williams may not be getting the kind of Cy Young attention that Dylan Cease of the Jays or young Yankees fireballer Cam Schlittler are getting, but it would be a fair guess that a few Jays were willing to put him in that conversation after his Tuesday night gem.

Gavin Williams of the Cleveland Guardians throws a pitch during the first inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Progressive Field on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026, in Cleveland, Ohio. Photo by Nick Cammett /Getty Images

Another slow night on offence

Williams owned the Jays for the seven innings he remained in the game. The 6-foot-6, 250-pound behemoth was touching triple digits regularly and paired that with both a deadly curveball and a sweeper the Jays hitters were continually fooled on.

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It added up to a two-hit, one unearned run night that was highlighted by a career-best 13 strikeouts.

That the Jays managed to score first in this one – with their lone run of the night – was about the only glimmer of optimism the Jays had in this one.

Williams just gave them little to no chance.

A throwing error by his normally defensively solid catcher Patrick Bailey opened the door to that run. With Kazuma Okamoto on first and on the run on a full count to Ernie Clement, Bailey threw down to second even after Clement looked at ball four. The throw caught the rest of the Cleveland defence off guard as it sailed into right centre field, allowing an alert Okamoto to take third.

Okamoto would score without the benefit of a hit as Williams bounced one in the dirt that got past Bailey, allowing Okamoto to basically walk home.

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Bailey more than made up for that miscue in the bottom of the inning as he followed an Angel Martinez walk with a no-doubt homer on a full-count offering from Spencer Arrighetti.

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Arrighetti had the bulk role in this bullpen game and while he looked good in his first two innings, allowing home runs has been an issue for him. It marked his third consecutive outing in which he has given up a long ball.

Arrighetti wasn’t the only Jays hurler to get roughed up. A pair of Angels – Angel Martinez and Angel Genao — took Joe Mantiply and then Mike Lorezen over the wall for two-run homers of their own to round out the scoring.

The Jays will look to their most consistent starter, Dylan Cease (9-5, 2.33 ERA), to get them back in the win column in Game 2 of the series on Wednesday night with a 6:40 p.m. first pitch.

The Guardians will counter with left-hander Joey Cantillo (9-7, 3.70 ERA).

With the loss, the Jays fell 2 ½ games behind the Guardians, who own the third and final wild card spot in the American League.

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