Benches clear in Guardians vs. Diamondbacks game after bunt attempt during perfect game bid

Baseball's unwritten rules were broken Sunday afternoon at Progressive Field, at least according to a few members of the Cleveland Guardians.

In the top of the sixth inning, Arizona Diamondbacks utility man Tim Tawa attempted to bunt for a base hit with Guardians ace Gavin Williams working on a perfect game. The bunt attempt went foul and catcher Patrick Bailey took off his mask and had words with Tawa. Brayan Rocchio expressed some displeasure from shortstop as well.

Tawa lined a legit single to right field on the very next pitch to end the perfect game. A few minutes later, the game went into a rain delay, and as the grounds crew put the tarp on the field, Guardians third base coach Rouglas Odor had words for Tawa. Things escalated to the point that the benches cleared.

"I don't really have any reaction. It is what it is," Williams, who did not say anything to Tawa on the field, said after the game. "I don't really care. My job is to get outs, and that's what I'm trying to do."   

I understand the unwritten rules, but come on, give me a break. The Guardians led 5-0 at the time, which is a comfortable but hardly insurmountable lead, and the D-backs are in a wild-card race. Tawa's playing to win the game. Arizona couldn't do anything against Williams all afternoon, so Tawa tried to do what he could to get on base. It's baseball. Bailey and the Guards need to chill out.

"I'm totally fine with him bunting in the sixth inning of a game," D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said after the game. "... It's either black or white for me. I don't like gray stuff. (Tawa) asked if he could bunt. We all checked off on it, said absolutely. And they clearly took exception to that."

The brawl was a typical baseball brawl with no punches throw. Just a lot of yelling and some mild pushing and shoving. It seems unlikely anything rose to the level of a suspension.

Cleveland went on to win the game 5-0 (box score) and Williams was brilliant. He struck out 10 and gave up just the Tawa single in 5 ⅔ innings. It was Williams' fifth straight double-digit strikeout game and his eighth overall this year, second only to Jacob Misiorowski's 11. The last pitcher with five straight double-digit strikeout games was Shohei Ohtani in 2022 (six straight).

Sunday's win improved the Guardians to 57-56. They are in the third AL wild-card spot and three games behind the Chicago White Sox in the AL Central. The D-backs are 59-53 and in the NL's second wild-card spot. They have a slim one-game lead on a postseason berth.