The Opener: Williams, Peralta, Webb vs. Skenes

The Angels were dispatched by the Yankees on Tuesday, but the loss was a footnote for the organization after Rams owner Stan Kroenke agreed to buy the team from Arte Moreno earlier in the day. The Tarps Off crew changed their well-known chant of “sell the team” to the victorious “sold the team” last night. 1. Williams punches out 13 Guardians righty Gavin Williams didn’t make it out of the second inning in his final start of August. He bounced back in a big way to begin September, striking out 13 Blue Jays across seven strong frames. Williams reached double-digit punchouts for the 10th time in 28 starts. He’s now tied with Dylan Cease at the top of the strikeout leaderboard in the American League, though the Blue Jays righty will almost certainly regain the lead today. Cleveland entered the series just a game and a half ahead of Toronto for the final AL Wild Card spot. It’s an important stretch for the Guardians, who take on the Tigers, Orioles, and Twins after the three-game set against the Blue Jays. 2. Peralta gets revenge Freddy Peralta’s time in New York didn’t go as planned. He’s gotten back on track since being dealt to Tampa Bay. The righty matched up against his former team last night and delivered six innings of one-run ball with seven strikeouts. Peralta got off to a shaky start, allowing a leadoff home run to Francisco Lindor and two more hits in the first inning. After wiggling out of the jam, he gave up just one baserunner the rest of the way. Peralta now has back-to-back quality starts and three in six tries with the Rays. He had four quality starts in 22 appearances with the Mets. 3. Pitchers’ duel in San Francisco? Paul Skenes won the NL Cy Young award last season. Logan Webb was one of his main competitors, finishing fourth in the voting. You couldn’t tell by their performances on Tuesday. Webb gave up two runs in the first inning. His offense picked him up, scoring five times against Skenes in the second inning. The Giants’ righty soon coughed up the lead, and then some. Pittsburgh piled up nine runs in the third inning. Webb was charged with nine earned runs over two-plus innings of work. Skenes, handed a six-run lead, failed to complete five innings to qualify for the win. The back-and-forth affair ended with the Pirates walking it off on a throwing error to secure a 13-12 victory. Photo courtesy of Ken Blaze, Imagn Images View Comments (15)