Gavin Williams is good to go.
The Cleveland Guardians will start the ace right-hander in Game 5 of the ALDS against the Chicago White Sox despite using him to close out the win in Game 4.
Manager Stephen Vogt announced Williams as the starter on Friday afternoon as the series shifts back to Cleveland for a winner-take-all final game on Saturday night (8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+).
"It’s a Game 5, win or go home. Gavin wants the ball. We want him to have the ball, and it's his game," Vogt said, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today. "And the game will tell us when it's time to move on, or maybe he takes it the whole way. We don't know. We gotta get there and find out."
Williams relieved closer Cade Smith in the ninth inning of Game 4 and allowed one hit on 18 pitches to record the final three outs of a 9-5 win.
Williams also started Game 2 of the series, when he allowed two runs on four hits with 11 strikeouts in five innings. During the regular season, he had an AL-leading 248 strikeouts with a 3.76 ERA over 32 starts.
The White Sox will counter with right-hander Sean Burke, who pitched 5.1 innings out of the bullpen in Game 2. He is coming off a season in which he made 27 starts and had a career-high 185 strikeouts with a 3.34 ERA.
“Just excited and looking forward to watching him in that environment,” manager Will Venable said of Burke on Friday. “This is a guy that for me is built for these types of moments, and certainly the stuff that he has and the aggressive way that he pitches and that he'll pitch tomorrow, we're excited to see.”
