DETROIT (AP) — David Fry was called on to make two clutch plays at the plate, and he delivered both times to extend the Cleveland Guardians’ season.
Fry delivered a go-ahead, two-run homer as a pinch hitter in the seventh inning and laid down a safety squeeze bunt for a ninth-inning insurance run that was needed in a 5-4 win over the Detroit Tigers on Thursday night that forced Game 5 of the AL Division Series.
“Got a must-win game,” he said.
Game 5 will be in Cleveland on Saturday night, thanks to Fry.
Batting for Kyle Manzardo in the seventh, the designated hitter sent a fastball over the left-field wall for the second pinch-homer in franchise history and first since Hank Majeski in Game 4 of the 1954 World Series.
It was the fourth go-ahead pinch homer in postseason history when trailing in the seventh inning or later, joining the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Kirk Gibson in the 1988 World Series, Toronto’s Ed Sprague in the 1992 World Series and Atlanta’s Eric Hinske in the 2010 NL Division Series.
“You dream about it as a kid and think about it all the time,” Fry said.
After Fry hit the long ball, manager Stephen Vogt asked him to play small ball on the first pitch he faced in the ninth. Cleveland had runners at the corners after one-out singles by Brayan Rocchio and Steven Kwan.
“Vogt kind of came up to me and was like, `Hey, how confident are you in getting the bunt down?'” Fry recalled. “And I told him I wasn’t a very good hitter in high school, so I’m pretty confident. I had to bunt a lot.”
The 28-year-old Fry, who played at Grapevine High School in Texas, was selected by Milwaukee in the seventh round of the 2018 amateur draft out of Northwestern State in Louisiana.
Cleveland acquired him from Milwaukee shortly before the 2022 season. After playing sparingly as a rookie last year, he became an All-Star this season while being used primarily as a designated hitter while also giving Vogt options at catcher, first and third base and in the outfield despite enduring an elbow injury.
“You just can’t say enough about what David has meant to us this year,” Vogt said.
Fry came through in a big way to help the Guardians end an 11-game losing streak when facing elimination since Game 6 of the 1997 World Series.
“David Fry is one of the best baseball players in this league,” Vogt said.
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