Cleveland Guardians Rookie Gavin Williams on Wrong Side of Unfortunate Baseball History on Monday

Cleveland Guardians rookie Gavin Williams dominated the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday night, but was on the wrong side of history by not getting the win.

The Cleveland Guardians lost to the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday night by a score of 3-1 despite the excellent pitching effort from rookie Gavin Williams.

Williams went seven innings against one of baseball's best lineups, limiting the Jays to no runs on just one hit. He walked one and struck out 12.

He received a no-decision as the Jays scored three runs in the last two innings against the Guardians bullpen.

The performance earned Williams an unfortunate spot in Modern Era baseball history.

Per @OptaSTATS on Twitter:

Gavin Williams is the only MLB rookie in the modern era to have a scoreless outing with 12+ strikeouts and no more than one hit allowed and yet not get the win.

Gavin Williams is the only MLB rookie in the modern era to have a scoreless outing with 12+ strikeouts and no more than one hit allowed and yet not get the win.

— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) August 8, 2023

The rookie is 1-3 this season with a 2.90 ERA in 49.2 innings. He's struck out 49 batters in those 49.2 innings.

The former first-round pick of the Guardians (2021) out of East Carolina has now made nine big league appearances, all this year.

The Guardians have now lost eight of their last 10 games and continue to fall further out of the playoff picture. They trail the Twins by 5.5 games in the American League Central.

The team won the American League Central last season but is dealing with critical injuries to Josh Naylor, Shane Bieber and Triston McKenzie at the moment. They also traded Amed Rosario and Aaron Civale, signaling they are building for the future instead.

The Guardians and Blue Jays will play each other again on Tuesday night.

First pitch is 7:10 p.m. ET.

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