'Amped up' Williams unable to escape 1st: 'Just kind of overthrowing'

LOS ANGELES -- It was a week of polar opposites for Guardians right-hander Gavin Williams, who matched the longest outing of his career on Monday then delivered the shortest on Saturday.

While his one run allowed against the Royals earlier in the week was just what Williams has been looking for in an up-and-down season, the five runs he allowed in the first inning Saturday, while recording just two outs, started the momentum toward a 7-2 defeat against the Dodgers.

Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said Williams had the right idea. He just might have been too locked into the task at hand against the Dodgers, who present three straight former MVPs to lead off their lineup in Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman.

“After kind of watching it and then processing, it kind of felt like Gavin came in a little amped up,” Vogt said. “He was 98-99 [mph] the other night in Kansas City. He was kind of 95-97 [Saturday], just kind of overthrowing just a little bit and yanking the ball, and so he just didn't have the command.”

If there was a bright spot for Williams, it was retiring Ohtani on a groundout to open his outing. Things went awry from there, as Williams loaded the bases on consecutive walks to Betts, Freeman and Max Muncy.

All three runners scored in a span of two batters when Tommy Edman had a two-run ground-rule double and Gavin Lux followed with a sacrifice fly.

“Just trying to work inside, really,” Williams said. “I mean, yeah, I was pulling a lot of them.”

Williams (3-8) ended his night with five runs allowed in two-thirds of an inning, with two hits and three walks.

Lane Thomas hit a two-run home run as the Guardians fell to 3-2 on a three-city, nine-game road trip. They are now 3 1/2 games ahead of the Royals in the AL Central with three weeks remaining in the regular season, while they remained five games up on the Twins.

Andrés Giménez had three hits one night after hitting a go-ahead two-run home run in a 3-1 victory over the Dodgers.

Five Guardians relievers held the Dodgers to two runs over 7 1/3 innings, including 2 1/3 scoreless innings from left-hander Erik Sabrowski. That allowed the high-leverage trio of Cade Smith, Hunter Gaddis and Emmanuel Clase to have the evening off, and they will be available for the series finale on Sunday.

“It was phenomenal what they did, especially [Sabrowski] going out there [for] two or three innings,” Williams said.

The Guardians intended to get Williams one more day of rest and have him pitch Sunday, but plans changed when Alex Cobb was removed from his start Saturday in order to not aggravate a blister on the middle finger of his right hand.

In the start of a run of 17 games in 17 days, the Guardians don’t have a day off until Sept. 23. Vogt has not named a starter for Tuesday’s game at Chicago against the White Sox, with Cobb a possibility for that outing.

For now, Vogt will focus on taking a second game from the Dodgers on Sunday. There were enough positives following a disappointing first inning that Vogt can see a way forward to a second consecutive series win over a playoff-caliber club.

“Lane had that big homer and we kept getting things going, and that's what makes me so proud of this team,” Vogt said. “We kept getting things going. We were right there to chip away, we just didn't come away with a big hit.”

With his home run, Thomas is hitting .342 (13-for-38) over his last 14 games.

“I mean, any time you go on the road, you want to win the series, and we feel good about [our chances],” Vogt said. “Playing on the road's tough and nights like tonight, they're going to happen. You flush it and you move on to the next day.”