Gavin Williams dominant as Guardians end losing streak vs. Rays

Story by

Story by
Gavin Williams dominant as Guardians end losing streak vs. Rays

Michael Beaven, Akron Beacon Journal · Akron Beacon Journal

Wed, Apr 29, 2026 ·

9 min read

About Our Ads

CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Guardians entered Wednesday, April 29, with losses in six of their last eight games, scoring only nine runs in those six losses — including losses of 3-2 on Monday and 1-0 on Tuesday to the Tampa Bay Rays .

The latter loss came in the major league debut of Cleveland's top prospect Travis Bazzana .

Bazzana was back in the lineup again Wednesday as the Guardians avoided a three-game sweep with a strong pitching performance by starter Gavin Williams in a 3-1 win.

Here's how the game unfolded through our live updates as the Guardians ended a four-game losing streak.

Apr 27, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Steven Matz (32) delivers a pitch in the second inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images
(David Richard, David Richard-Imagn Images)

Apr 27, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Parker Messick (77) delivers a pitch in the third inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images
(David Richard, David Richard-Imagn Images)

Apr 27, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians shortstop Brayan Rocchio (4) throws to first base in the third inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images
(David Richard, David Richard-Imagn Images)

Apr 27, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Tampa Bay Rays center fielder Jonny DeLuca (21) makes a catch in the third inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images
(David Richard, David Richard-Imagn Images)

Cade Smith pitches a scoreless ninth inning and the Guardians win 3-1

Cade Smith pitches a scoreless ninth inning and the Guardians win 3-1. Yandy Diaz singles, Jake Fraley strikes out swinging, Cedric Mullins pops out to third baseman Daniel Schneemann and Richie Palacios strikes out.

Guardians lead Rays 3-1 through eight innings

Yoendrys Gómez pitches a scoreless eighth for the Rays. Travis Bazzana and Bo Naylor each pop out to shortstop Taylor Walls , Brayan Rocchio singles to left field and Steven Kwan grounds out to end the inning.

Rocchio has reached base on all four his plate appearances with three singles and via an error. Rocchio has scored two runs.

Erik Sabrowski enters in relief of Gavin Williams in eighth inning with runner on base; Guardians up 3-1

Erik Sabrowski enters in relief of Gavin Williams with two outs and two runners on base. Sabrowski gets a strikeout against Jonathan Aranda to end the inning.

Williams got Hunter Feduccia to ground out to open the eighth and struck out Taylor Walls. Chandler Simpson and Junior Caminero followed with singles and Guardians manager Stephen Vogt lifted Williams in favor of Sabrowski.

Williams finishes with 95 pitches (71 strikes). He pitched 7⅔ innings, struck out nine and allowed five hits, one unearned run and no walks. Williams snapped a 45-start streak of walking at least one batter. The last start where he did not walk a batter prior to today was August 10, 2024.

Guardians lead Rays 3-1 through seven innings

Yoendrys Gómez enters to pitch in the seventh inning for the Rays and José Ramírez greets him with a double down the right field line.

Gomez then gets Kyle Manzardo to strikeout. Ramirez steals third base with Daniel Schneemann at bat. That is Ramirez's 12th stolen base this season and the 299th stolen base of his MLB career. Schneemann pops out to third baseman Junior Caminero and Angel Martinez grounds out 4-3 to end the inning. Credit second baseman Richie Palacios and first baseman Jonathan Aranda with the final out.

Rays score a run following an error, Guardians lead 3-1 in seventh inning

Yandy Diaz lines a one-out single to center field and scores following a throwing error by Guardians second baseman Travis Bazzana to trim the Rays deficit to 3-1 in the seventh inning.

Guardians starting pitcher Gavin Williams struck out Jonathan Aranda to start the seventh. Diaz singled and ran towards second base when Jake Fraley hit a ground ball to Bazzana, who fielded the ball and through it out of the reach of shortstop Brayan Rocchio. The ball rolled to foul territory in left field and Diaz scored. Cedric Mullins hit a flyball that right fielder Chase DeLauter caught for the second out and Williams struck out Richie Palacios.

Williams is at 84 pitches (61 strikes) through seven innings.

Guardians lead Rays 3-0 through six innings

Six innings complete in Cleveland, and the Guardians lead Rays the 3-0.

Casey Legumina entered in the sixth in relief for the Rays as Drew Rasmussen finished with 91 pitches over five innings. Rasmussen struck out six and allowed six hits, three runs (two earned) and one walk.

Travis Bazzana hit Legumina's first pitch of the inning to deep center field where Cedric Mullins caught the ball. Bo Naylor flied out to left fielder Chandler Simpson for the second out of the inning. Brayan Rocchio singled to left, Steven Kwan walked and Chase DeLauter popped out to third baseman Junior Caminero in foul territory.

Guardians starter Gavin Williams retires Rays in order in sixth inning

Guardians starter Gavin Williams retires the Rays in order in the sixth inning with two strikeouts and a groundout.

Williams struck out Taylor Walls swinging and Junior Caminero looking in the inning. Williams is at 66 pitches (47 strikes) through six innings.

Guardians take 3-0 lead over Rays in fifth inning

The Guardians take a 3-0 lead over the Rays in the fifth inning. Brayan Rocchio reached base via an error by first baseman Jonathan Aranda, Steven Kwan hit a double to right field and Chase DeLauter delivered a single to center field to score Rocchio and Kwan.

Drew Rasmussen then gets two strikeouts against Jose Ramirez and Kyle Manzardo.

Daniel Schneemann follows the two strikeouts with a single to center field to advance DeLauter to third base. Rasmussen gets Angel Martinez to strikeout to end the inning. Rasmussen is at 91 pitches (65 strikes) through five innings.

Guardians starter Gavin Williams retires Rays in order in fifth inning

Guardians starter Gavin Williams retires the Rays in order in the fifth inning with a flyout, a groundout and a strikeout.

Williams is at 54 pitches (39 strikes) through five innings.

Rays starter Drew Rasmussen retires Guardians in order in fourth inning

Rays starter Drew Rasmussen retires the Guardians in order in the fourth inning. Rasmussen got a flyout, a ground out and a strkeout of Bo Naylor.

Guardians starter Gavin Williams picks off Rays runner to end fourth inning

Guardians starter Gavin Williams allowed a single to Jake Fraley with two outs, and then moments later picked him off first base to end the fourth inning.

Williams struck out Jonathan Aranda and Yandy Diaz lined out to right fielder Chase DeLauter before Fraley's single.

Guardians take 1-0 lead over Rays in third inning

The Guardians take a 1-0 lead over the Rays in the third inning. Kyle Manzardo lifted a sacrifice fly to left fielder Chandler Simpson with the bases loaded to score Brayan Rocchio.

Rocchio led off the inning with a single, stole second base, Steven Kwan grounded out, Chase DeLauter walked and Jose Ramirez hit into a fielder's choice ahead of Manzardo's sac fly.

Apr 29, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians shortstop Brayan Rocchio (4) steals second as Tampa Bay Rays first baseman Jonathan Aranda (8) jumps for the throw during the third inning at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

Guardians load the bases in third inning against Rays starter Drew Rasmussen

The Guardians have load the bases in the third inning with one out against Rays starter Drew Rasmussen. Brayan Rocchio led off the inning with a single, stole second base, Steven Kwan grounded out, Chase DeLauter walked and Jose Ramirez hit into a fielder's choice where no out was recorded.

Bernie Kosar at Progressive Field to watch Guardians vs. Rays

Former Cleveland Browns QB Bernie Kosar is at Progressive Field to watch the Guardians vs. Rays baseball game

Guardians starter Gavin Williams works around hit batter and single to retire Rays in order in third inning

Guardians starter Gavin Williams struck out Junior Caminero with two runners on base to end the third inning. Williams hit Hunter Feducci with a pitch with one out and allowed a single to Chandler Simpson with two outs.

Richie Palacios grounded out to begin the inning, Feduccia was hit by a pitch, Taylor Walls struck out, Simpson singled and Caminero struck out.

Apr 29, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians third baseman Daniel Schneemann (10) breaks his bat on a single during the second inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images — Cleveland Guardians' Daniel Schneemann breaks his bat on a single against the Tampa Bay Rays on April 29, 2026, in Cleveland.

Rays starter Drew Rasmussen works around single to retire Guardians in second inning

Rays starter Drew Rasmussen worked around a single by Daniel Schneemann with no outs to retire the Guardians in the first inning. Rasmussen got the Guardians to hit into three ground outs to end the inning. Schneemann advanced to second on an Angel Martinez ground out and took third on a Travis Bazzana ground out. Bo Naylor grounded out to end the inning.

Guardians starter Gavin Williams retires Rays in order in second inning

Guardians starter Gavin Williams retires the Rays in order in the second inning with two ground outs and a flyout.

Rays starter Drew Rasmussen works around single to retire Guardians in first inning

Rays starter Drew Rasmussen worked around a single by Chase DeLauter with one out to retire the Guardians in the first inning. Rasmussen got a lineout, a groundout and a strikeout to end the inning.

Guardians starting pitcher Gavin Williams throws a pitch against the Tampa Bay Rays in the first inning, April 29, 2026, in Cleveland.

Guardians starter Gavin Williams retires Rays in order in first inning

Guardians starter Gavin Williams retires the Rays in order in the first inning with a flyout and two ground outs.

First pitch was at 2:31 p.m. after an 81-minute rain delay

Guardians vs. Rays game scheduled first pitch is approximately 2:30 p.m.

The Guardians grounds crew is uncovering the tarp and is going to begin working on the field.

The Guardians vs. Rays game is scheduled to start at around 2:30 p.m.

Guardians game continues to be delayed by rain in Cleveland

It is 1:10 p.m. and the Guardians vs. Rays game continues to be delayed by rain in Cleveland.

Guardians game will be delayed by rain

The 1:10 start time will be delayed, as it's raining 40 minutes ahead of first pitch and the tarp on the field.

Is Travis Bazzana in the lineup today?

Yes, rookie Travis Bazzana is in the lineup and hitting seventh for the second consecutive game.

When do the Guardians play today?

First pitch was scheduled for 1:10 p.m. ET. The actual first pitch was at 2:31 p.m. following an 81-minute rain delay.

Travis Bazzana bats during the second inning of his MLB debut Tuesday.

Were to watch Guardians game today?

The Guardians-Rays game is on Guardians TV.

Guardians lineup today vs. Rays

Guardians vs. Rays starting pitchers

Right-hander Gavin Williams (4-1, 3.28 ERA) gets the start today for the Guardians and the Rays will counter with right-hander Drew Rasmussen (2-0, 2.45 ERA).