Analyst compares Guardians’ Gavin Williams Game 4 move to Braves’ Chris Sale decision appeared first on ClutchPoints. Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
In the playoffs, teams that have their backs against the wall couldn’t care less about who will pitch in a potential next game, if they even get to that point. All that matters is sealing the deal and living to fight another day. On Thursday, the Cleveland Guardians, despite being up by four runs in the bottom of the ninth, elected to send Gavin Williams, their Game 5 starter, to the mound to relieve closer Cade Smith, who was struggling.
Smith allowed a leadoff home run to Miguel Vargas and compounded matters by letting Munetaka Murakami get on base via walk. Manager Stephen Vogt decided not to take a chance, sending Williams to close out the game. That’s exactly what he did. Even after allowing a single to the first batter he faced, Williams locked in and got three consecutive outs, to send the series to a decisive Game 5 with a 9-5 victory.
This was a risk that the Guardians had to take, and it remains to be seen if this will pay off. But survival was of the utmost importance. Former White Sox catcher AJ Pierzynski compared this gambit of theirs to the one the Atlanta Braves made when they let Chris Sale close out Game 3 of the NL Wild Card series, which delayed his start in the NLDS to Game 3 and, perhaps, hampered his performance as well.
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“Ask Chris Sale,” Pierzynski said on Wake Up Barstool. “He’s not used to doing that. … It’s a bigger deal than they let on last time on the broadcast. It helps the White Sox.”
How big of a deal is it for the Guardians that Gavin Williams pitched in Game 4? pic.twitter.com/RujWYv8OFz
— Wake Up Barstool (@wakeupbarstool) October 9, 2026
Williams will still start for the Guardians in Game 5 even after throwing 18 pitches to close out Game 4. Now, it’s not entirely unprecedented for a starting pitcher to pull off this inhuman feat. Just ask Madison Bumgarner. But not everyone can be Bumgarner, especially in October, and Williams is going to have to reach deep into his bag to help send Cleveland to the ALCS.
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