WATCH: Benches clear after D Backs attempt a bunt to break up the Guardians perfect game

On Sunday at Progressive Field, Guardians starter Gavin Williams was cruising through a perfect game, five innings in, sitting at just 67 pitches, when Diamondbacks leadoff man Tim Tawa came up in the top of the sixth and squared to bunt.

The attempt went foul, but that didn’t stop the Guardians from completely losing their composure. Catcher Patrick Bailey and shortstop Brayan Rocchio exchanged words with Tawa, who then broke up the perfect game one pitch later anyway with a clean single to right.

Then, because the baseball gods clearly wanted maximum chaos, the benches cleared and a rain delay hit, giving us one of the most action-packed video clips of the entire season.

Rain Delay Chaos Between the Guardians and DBacks

Guardians were pissed at the Dbacks after they tried to bunt and end Gavin Williams' perfect game

The benches ended up clearing in the pouring rain as the grounds crew tried to get the tarp on the field pic.twitter.com/Yn27HaqCnS

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) August 2, 2026

Seriously, that video was a gift. You’ve got the bunt attempt, the base hit, a grounds crew guy getting caught on the wrong side of the tarp during the rain scramble, and a full benches-clearing scrum.

That’s a whole lot of baseball packed into one glorious clip.

Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo didn’t hesitate to defend Tawa when reporters asked if his player had broken an unwritten rule, saying he was totally fine with it and basically, that he didn’t give a shit about the unwritten rule.

He wasn’t even arguing against the concept of unwritten rules, he was arguing about what the rules actually are. Lovullo said he’d had a conversation about this exact scenario in the past with Guardians manager Steven Vogt, back when Vogt was still a player under him in Arizona.

Their understanding was that teams can do basically anything through six innings, and only after that do you have to start being careful when you’re staring down a no-hitter or a perfect game. By that logic, Tawa bunting in the sixth was completely fair game. He was inside the window. The Guardians just didn’t like it.

Take the Unwritten Rules of Baseball and Shove Em

Here’s where I land on this whole thing. If you’re on the Diamondbacks’ side, saying to hell with the unwritten rules because you’re down five runs and trying to win a baseball game, then you’re on the right side of it.

That’s your job. You’re a professional. Your entire purpose out there is to get on base and score runs and win the game, not to politely lay down and let the other team’s pitcher throw a perfect game because it would hurt his feelings if you tried.

I genuinely don’t understand why the Guardians were so heated about it.

Nobody, and I mean nobody, gives a single damn about the opposing pitcher’s perfect game. Why on earth would a Diamondbacks hitter care about preserving Gavin Williams’ place in the record books?

That’s not his problem. His problem is scoring runs and if a bunt single gets him on base and gives his team a better chance to win, then he bunts, and the Guardians can cry about it all they want.

The unwritten rules are one of the dumbest parts of baseball, and this is a perfect example of why. A player did something completely legal, completely logical, and completely in service of trying to win, and the other team acted like he’d committed a crime. Take those unwritten rules and shove them straight up your ass. Play the game to win, and if the other team doesn’t like it, they can throw a better pitch.

It Didn’t Even Matter in the End

The funniest part is that the whole thing was for nothing on the scoreboard. Tawa’s hit didn’t spark any kind of Diamondbacks comeback, and Arizona managed just two hits total in a 5-0 loss.

So the Guardians got their win, the perfect game got broken up, the benches cleared, and everyone got worked up over a game Cleveland won comfortably anyway.

Regardless, it’s a perfect reminder that the unwritten rules are made up and the only rule that actually matters is trying to win the baseball game. Good on Tawa and good on Lovullo for backing him. As for the Guardians, maybe spend less energy being offended and more energy not giving up a bunt single in the sixth inning of a perfect game.

Play to win. Everything else is noise.

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