Juan Soto Spoils Gavin Williams' No-Hit Bid with HR in 9th Inning of Guardians-Mets

Cleveland Guardians pitcher Gavin Williams came within two outs of completing Major League Baseball's first no-hitter of the 2025 season before Juan Soto spoiled things.

Soto's solo homer with one out in the bottom of the ninth broke up Williams' attempt at history, though the Guardians still pulled off a sweep of the New York Mets with a 4-1 victory.

Williams also came within one out of his first career complete game, but his day ended after walking Brandon Nimmo and throwing 126 pitches. He had never pitched more than seven innings in his first 54 career starts dating back to 2023.

The right-hander finished his outing with six strikeouts, four walks and one run on one hit in 8.2 innings. Cleveland, since losing 10 straight games from June 26-July 6, has won 19 of its last 26 games to move four games over .500 for the first time since June 8.

New York, on the other hand, is spiraling right now. The club has lost eight of its last nine games immediately after a seven game winning streak from July 20-28.

Williams' previous career-high in innings pitched was seven, done four times, most recently on July 20 in an 8-2 win over the Athletics.

The Guardians have the longest active drought without a no-hitter thrown. Their last one was Len Barker's perfect game on May 15, 1981.

There have been 119 no-hitters thrown in MLB since then. The most recent one was a combined effort for the Chicago Cubs in a 12-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sept. 4. 2024. Shota Imanaga started that game, striking out seven and allowing two walks over seven innings.

Cleveland's recent hot streak has also coincided with a cold stretch for the Detroit Tigers, making the AL Central race more interesting than anyone was expecting. The Tigers led the division by as many as 14 games on July 8, but the Guardians have clawed back to within five games in the loss column after Wednesday's results.

The Mets had a streak of 14.1 consecutive hitless innings prior to Soto's homer. Jeff McNeil's leadoff single in the bottom of the fourth inning on Tuesday night was their last hit before Soto went yard.

New York has fallen 2.5 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies for first place in the NL East, though it still has a lead of 2.5 games over the Cincinnati Reds for the final wild card spot.