Chicago White Sox at Cleveland Guardians

Whenever Gavin Williams takes the mound, the Guardians can typically rest assured that the big right-hander will pitch deep into a ballgame. Williams entered Friday ranked 12th in the Majors in innings pitched, with 101 2/3. Of course, we know what they say about the best-laid plans. “You can map out every game that you want to, and very rarely it goes the way you map it out ahead of time,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said with a chuckle. We saw that play out on Friday, when the Guardians beat the White Sox, 4-3, at Progressive Field in what amounted to an unplanned bullpen game. Cleveland (47-42) now holds a one-game lead over Chicago (45-42) in the AL Central. Williams tossed 4 2/3 innings before his night was cut short by a one-hour, 55-minute rain delay. Franco Aleman, Hunter Gaddis, Colin Holderman, Cade Smith and Erik Sabrowski pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings in relief of him, to set the table for Kahlil Watson’s walk-off single in the 10th. It marked the second consecutive walk-off win for Cleveland after Brayan Rocchio hit a game-ending two-run homer in the opener of this four-game series on Thursday night. “Gavin pitched yesterday,” Vogt quipped in his postgame media session, which landed after midnight ET on Saturday. The Guardians entered Friday having played the most games decided by two or fewer runs among all MLB teams, with 52. They were 28-24 in those games. Since the start of June, 18 of Cleveland’s 27 games had been decided by two or fewer runs. The Guards were 8-10 in those contests. The Guardians and White Sox have continued to play nailbiters. Each of their five head-to-head meetings has been decided by a single run, with Cleveland going 3-2. The difference this series has been Cleveland’s bullpen, which has thrown 9 1/3 scoreless innings and allowed just two hits and one walk. Chicago’s relievers have allowed seven runs (six earned) on eight hits and seven walks. “They've been doing it all year,” Steven Kwan said of the Guardians’ relievers. “I think we sometimes take it for granted in how well they do, how prepared they are as well.” Foreboding clouds rolled over Progressive Field while Williams was locked in a battle with Miguel Vargas in the fifth inning. The Guardians led, 1-0, but Chicago had two runners on with two outs. Vargas fouled off four two-strike pitches from Williams to run the count full. Williams threw a sweeper up in the zone that Vargas hit over the left-field wall for a go-ahead three-run homer. The Guardians’ g