KANSAS CITY, Missouri – Gavin Williams threw seven strong innings and the Cleveland Guardians beat the Kansas City Royals 4-2 on Monday.
Lane Thomas and Josh Naylor each hit two home runs for AL Central-leading Cleveland, which won for the fourth time in five games.
Williams (3-7) allowed one run and one hit in an encouraging September performance after going 1-4 with a 6.56 ERA in five starts last month.
“Fill the zone,” Williams said. “I talked to (catcher) Bo (Naylor) and came up with a better plan. I just saw how they took different throws.”
The right-hander managed two walks and threw 46 pitches in the first two innings, but then calmed down and retired his final 16 batters.
“He was fighting himself in the first few innings,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “He adjusted. He desperately needed seven points, for him, for us, for everything.”
The Guardians began the day with a 3 1/2 game lead over Minnesota and Kansas City in the division.
The Royals played without coach Matt Quatraro, who missed the game for personal reasons. Coach Paul Hoover led the team in Quatraro’s absence.
Kansas City finished with two goals and suffered its sixth consecutive loss, its heaviest defeat of the season.
“The ball is not bouncing our way,” said Royals infielder Michael Massey. “We’ve had periods where the ball landed on the right side of the chalk line and periods where it landed on the wrong side. Right now, we’re just on the wrong side.”
Thomas’ ninth home run of the season gave Cleveland a 2-1 lead in the fifth inning. It was Thomas’ first home run since being acquired in a trade with Washington on July 29.
“You just want to contribute,” said Thomas. “It was nice to support Gavin a little bit there.”
José Ramírez opened the sixth with an infield single against Kris Bubic. Josh Naylor followed with his 29th home run, a 420-footer to center on a 1-0 fastball.
In his last five games, Naylor has eight RBIs and eleven hits, three of them for extra bases.
Emmanuel Clase deflected the ninth pass for his 41st save. He has converted 28 consecutive save opportunities.
Garcia hit Yuli Gurriel home with a double in the second inning for Kansas City and Kyle Isbel added a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning.
Garcia said Williams threw more curveballs, “and we didn’t make the adjustment.”
Garcia started at shortstop while Bobby Witt Jr. served as the designated hitter. It was Witt’s first game away from the shortstop position since Sept. 4 of last year, a span of 161 games.
Kansas City right-hander Michael Wacha (11-7) allowed two runs and five hits in five innings, suffering his first loss since June 22.
“Everything was fine until the fifth,” Wacha said. “Until then, I was able to knock her off balance.”
“He threw the ball really, really well,” Hoover said. “He gave the cutter to Thomas for a home run. The one hit got him.”
TRAINING ROOM
Royals: 1B Gurriel left the team in the eighth inning due to a strained right thigh.
Next
Guardians RHP Tanner Bibee (10-6, 3.65 ERA) will face RHP Brady Singer (9-9, 3.36 ERA) on Tuesday night.
——
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
