Trevor and the terrific, very good day
Williams’ 1st start was memorable — 5 perfect innings, a win, and family in the stands
Off the bat, it appeared Chicago Cubs right-hander Trevor Williams had induced a ground ball that would end with another Milwaukee Brewers batter failing to reach base.
Brewers catcher Omar Narvaez caught just enough of Williams’ inside fastball, weakly hitting it for a routine grounder to third to lead off the sixth inning. Unfortunately for Williams, the Cubs infield was shifted toward the right side of the field against the left-handed-hitting Narvaez, which left third base unoccupied.
Narvaez’s single — featuring a 67.1 mph exit velocity and .050 expected batting average — represented the Brewers’ first baserunner and ended Williams’ perfect start after retiring 15 consecutive batters.
The soft hit led to trouble in the inning for Williams, but he navigated a basesloaded situation by getting Keston Hiura to hit into a double play to end the sixth. A four-run fourth provided the run support for Williams, and the Cubs bullpen held on for a 5-3 victory Monday night at Wrigley Field.
Alec Mills picked up the save as the Cubs won their third consecutive game. The offense hit three home runs, including back-to-back homers by Javier Baez and David Bote.
Williams became the first pitcher to throw at least five no-hit innings in his Cubs debut since Amaury Telemaco on May 16, 1996, against the Houston Astros, according to Cubs historian Ed Hartig.
“You go into every start thinking you’re going to throw one, right? You go
into every start hunting that perfect game from the first pitch,” Williams said. “Some guys it’ll last one pitch, some guys it’ll last 100 pitches.
“So that’s the mindset going into every game: expecting perfection but understanding that it’s not going to happen most days and going from Plan A to Plan B and Plan C and going from there.”
Williams’ night ended after he issued a four-pitch walk to Christian Yelich and a single to Avisail Garcia to start the seventh. He exited to an ovation and acknowledged Cubs fans with a slight hat tip.
Williams’ family was in the stands, including his father, Richard, a lifelong Cubs fan who typically refuses to accept tickets from his son. That stance didn’t change even for Trevor’s debut with the Cubs; however, Jason Heyward and his wife wanted to give their tickets to the Williamses, and they accepted. Williams appreciated the Heywards’ professionalism with the gesture.
“We’re thankful that
they were able to be in the stands to celebrate. It wouldn’t have been the same if they weren’t in the stands,” Williams said. “To feel the energy, too, from all the fans, that was incredible and something that I want to remember and I’m going to cherish.”
Williams finished with a quality start — he recorded only one last year in 11 starts for the Pittsburgh Pirates — going six-plus innings, striking out six, walking two and allowing two runs, which were charged to him after reliever Jason Adam allowed a three-run homer to Narvaez in relief.
Cubs manager David Ross enjoys watching his players perform at a high level, but he couldn’t fully take in Williams’ five innings of perfection because “my brain unfortunately tries to think of the worst things that might happen and try to plan for them.”
“For him to have his story and handle the environment, his family in the stands, his first start at Wrigley Field and growing up a fan, I think it’s pretty spectacular
how he handled the moment,” Ross said. “Making that big pitch and getting that double play was huge, and watching him show some emotion on the field fired me up, that’s for sure.”Williams’ rapport with catcher Willson Contreras paid off onhis the game-saving double play to end the sixth. He needed to battle to get out of a tough spot after the Brewers loaded the bases. With Narvaez on base after his perfection-busting single, Williams got an out on the next pitch but then issued a walk to Daniel Vogelbach and hit Kolten Wong to load the bases.
Up until that point in the sixth, Williams was throwing almost solelythrowing four-seam fastballs and curveballs to the Brewers. But Williams and Contreras switched gears when Hiura stepped to the plate. They alternated between his sinker and slider, ultimately getting Hiura to pull an outside slider to Cubs third baseman Matt Duffy, who started the inning-ending double play.