Cleveland Guardians starter Gavin Williams was pursuing a perfect game bid against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Progressive Field when the contest was disrupted by a benches-clearing altercation. The incident marked an abrupt shift in tone during what had been a dominant pitching performance, drawing attention away from Williams' outing and onto the confrontation between the two teams.

Williams had been in excellent form, striking out 10 of the first 15 batters he faced and carrying a perfect game into the top of the sixth inning. Details of exactly what triggered the benches-clearing incident were not fully provided, though it occurred as Williams' bid for pitching perfection was under way on Sunday.