Guardians’ Gavin Williams on missed no-hitter: Pitch count wasn’t factor

Gavin Williams didn’t want to come out of the game, and Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt had no plans to remove his pitcher with a chance to make history.

With no one warming up in the bullpen, Williams carried a no-hitter into the ninth inning before Juan Soto spoiled it with a solo home run with just two outs to go in the Guardians’ 4-1 win over the Mets on Wednesday afternoon at Citi Field.

“Going into the ninth was pretty fun, pretty special,” the 26-year-old Williams said following his 126-pitch masterpiece, exceeding his previous season high of 109. “At that point I didn’t even care about the pitch count.

“It didn’t matter if I went to 140 pitches. I would have done it anyway. It was pretty special to be out there. You never know when that’s gonna happen again.”

The Cleveland franchise hasn’t thrown a no-hitter since Len Barker’s perfect game in 1981.

Vogt said he didn’t even ask Williams how he was feeling after he’d retired 14 batters in a row to complete the eighth at 111 pitches.

“I think one of the things you look at is the [velocity], and the velo was still there. The stuff was crisp,” Vogt said. “I didn’t dare ask him. … It was one of those things with a four-run lead like that, you gotta let him go.

“You don’t know how many chances these pitchers are ever going to have to do it. He was going to get to go the whole way. … So we didn’t touch the phone. We didn’t talk to anybody. There was no one up until the ball left the yard.”

And it did so just barely, just beyond the reach of leaping center fielder Angel Martínez.

“I wish I could be Spiderman. I was real close. I tried my best,” Martínez said.

“I knew Soto clipped it. I knew he got it. But of course it had to be six inches from Angel’s glove,” Vogt added.

Williams said he hoped to induce a ground ball in that situation, but he elevated a fastball just enough for Soto to drive it.

“Good fastball, good swing,” catcher Austin Hedges said. “I’ve sadly been back there for quite a few of [Soto’s] homers, so I know what it sounds like.

“He took a really good swing and there’s a reason he’s one of the best hitters in this league.”

Interestingly, two of the Mets’ other top hitters — Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso — smacked liners back at Williams in the first inning, with Lindor knocking the glove off his hand.

“It scared me, I’ll say that. I thought I was gonna have to change pants or something,” Williams joked. “And then Alonso did the same thing and I thought I was really gonna have to [change them].”

Williams, who walked four, faced two more batters following Soto’s homer.

He retired Alonso and walked Brandon Nimmo before garnering a standing ovation from much of the Citi Field crowd on his walk back to the visiting dugout.

“It’s nice, especially getting that from a different team’s fan base,” Williams said. “It’s awesome. It doesn’t usually happen, but I appreciate it.”