Less than 20 months ago, hardly anybody knew who David Fry was.
Even after a solid rookie season (at age 27), he almost didn't make the Guardians' roster this past spring.
Yet all year long, the Grapevine, Texas, native has been the glue keeping Cleveland's lineup together, providing production where needed and from a source few thought possible. That was never truer than on Thursday night in Detroit.
Fry's two-out, two-run, pinch-hit homer in the seventh proved to be the decider in the Guards' 5-4 victory over the Tigers in Game 4 of the American League Division Series. An unlikely squeeze bunt in the ninth also supplied some essential insurance, and though Detroit fought back with a run of their own, Emmanuel Clase was able to slam the door with a five-out save.
The Guardians' 43rd come-from-behind win of the season sends the two teams back to Progressive Field for a winner-take-all Game 5 on Saturday. It also marks the first time Cleveland has won a postseason game when facing elimination since Game 6 of the 1997 World Series, snapping an 11-game losing streak in that department.
Trailing 3-2, it was Steven Kwan who got the seventh-inning rally started with a single, one of his three hits on the evening. With Kyle Manzardo due up, manager Stephen Vogt elected to insert Fry, knowing the Tigers would counter by replacing lefty pitcher Sean Guenther with righty Beau Brieske.
Brieske had dominated Fry all series, and had him down in the count 0-2 before missing with his next two pitches. On pitch six of the at-bat, Fry smacked Brieske's 98 mph fastball to left-center, clearing the glove of a leaping Riley Greene and putting the Guards ahead 4-3.
From there, the club's dominant bullpen took over. Hunter Gaddis had allowed a go-ahead single in the sixth after Cade Smith put two runners on, but came back for the bottom of the seventh to strike out a pair of Detroit hitters. Tim Herrin surrendered two hits in the eighth, forcing Vogt to call on his all-world closer earlier than expected.
Clase had been saddled with the loss in Game 2, allowing a three-run home run to Kerry Carpenter in a 3-0 defeat. But Vogt's confidence in his relief ace never wavered, and he responded by getting Zach McKinstry to ground out before striking out Trey Sweeney on a blazing 101 mph cutter.
Even with Clase dealing, a little breathing room is never a bad thing, and when Fry came back to the plate with runners at the corners in the ninth, he was asked to lay down a bunt rather than swing away. He executed the squeeze perfectly, and Brayan Rocchio came sliding home to make it a two-run contest.
That was absolutely crucial, as Justyn-Henry Malloy would lead off the bottom of the ninth with a double. He came around to score on a pair of grounders, but it was meaningless, as Clase recovered to fan Matt Vierling and seal the win.
It was a banner night for Cleveland's offense, which came in reeling with 20 consecutive scoreless innings dating back to Game 1. This time, Kwan and Manzardo sparked what turned out to be an 11-hit effort with first-inning singles, and Lane Thomas ended the skid with an RBI knock through the right side.
Star third baseman José Ramírez also came up with just his second hit of the series, doing so gloriously with a solo homer that put the Guardians up 2-1 in the fifth. The 418-foot blast off Tyler Holton ignited the dugout, which had seemingly been mired in a malaise for the better part of a week.
Both starting pitchers went four innings, with Reese Olson striking out four and allowing a run for Detroit. Tanner Bibee found himself in trouble early and walked the bases loaded with nobody out in the second, but after a sacrifice fly by Sweeney escaped with a 1-1 tie after Jake Rogers lined out to Rocchio, who flipped to Andrés Giménez at second for the inning-ending double play.
Vogt attempted to have Bibee get them through the fifth, until he gave up a leadoff homer to McKinstry that tied the game at 2. Smith subsequently led the four-headed monster out of the pen, and though the group allowed a pair of runs they still combined for seven strikeouts over five innings, with Gaddis being awarded the victory.
The Tigers suffered another blow, for as he came around to score in the sixth, Carpenter tweaked his left hamstring and had to leave the game. Manager A.J. Hinch did not have an update on his status.
Starting pitching will be less of a question mark in Game 5, as Detroit will turn to ace Tarik Skubal to get the team to the AL Championship Series. The Cy Young front-runner worked seven shutout frames in Game 2 and is working on a streak of 24 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings dating back to the regular season.
Vogt has yet to commit to a starter, but the smart money would be on former Tiger Matthew Boyd. The 33-year-old Southpaw notched 4 2/3 scoreless innings of his own in Game 2, valiantly keeping the Guards in the game against Skubal.
