DETROIT – As the saying goes, “Hitting a baseball is the hardest thing you can do in sports.” It’s a sentiment that stands firmly on its own, no qualifications required. Context is crucial, however, because not every at-bat is the same. Regardless of the players involved, a crucial truth remains: for as difficult as it may be to hit a round ball with a round bat, it becomes exponentially more challenging when the count is not in the batter’s favor.
And in Game 4 of the ALDS, the count was not in David Fry’s favor.
A back-and-forth affair that ended with a 5-4 victory in Cleveland thrust Fry into the spotlight in an elimination match for his Guardians. Although he had not yet started the game, he was called on to pinch hit for rookie Kyle Manzardo with a runner on base and two outs in the seventh inning, trailing by one run. Tigers manager AJ Hinch responded with a management move of his own and called in trusted firefighter Beau Brieske.
Facing Brieske was a chore as soon as the bullpen door opened. After four brilliant performances, the right back had yet to allow a goal this postseason. Fry went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts against Brieske this year.
A 95 mph fastball flew by for the first strike. Fry made a mistake on a gnarly change for strike two.
Suddenly, in an 0-2 hole, the hardest thing you can do in the sport became even harder.
It is no coincidence that the general public often stands up when the home team’s pitcher reaches two strikes, as the odds of the at-bat ending in the pitcher’s favor increase dramatically. This time it was no different. Comerica Park rose together, eager for Brieske to put out another Guardians rally, ready to roar in unison as it had done on countless occasions during baseball’s return to the Motor City after a decade of quiet October.
But this season, as he has risen from anonymity to become one of the most popular and productive players on the Guardians’ roster, Fry has defied the odds time and time again. One relevant example: Despite the overwhelming statistical evidence that success at the plate after entering the ultimate pitcher count is an enormous rarity, Fry has thrived in such situations. MLB teams combined to hit .163/.197/.252 after going 0-2 in the regular season. Fry, meanwhile, hit .265/.307/.530 in such situations, good for an .837 OPS, which was the best mark in baseball.
And so, undeterred, Fry began to dig himself out of the 0-2 hole, as he had done so many times before. He made a mistake on another fastball before watching Brieske sail out two pitches to even the count. Then Brieske brought the heat again, this time in the zone. Fry jumped all over it and launched a towering drive that ultimately landed just beyond the left field wall for a go-ahead, two-run home run.
The volume that had been building in every section of a park packed with 44,923 spectators — a Comerica postseason record — suddenly stopped. As Fry circled the bases, the only sounds came from the elated Guardians dugout and the few rows behind home plate filled with families and friends of Cleveland players.
“As a ballplayer, you know, this is obviously his coming out party as a player – making the All-Star Game, finishing the season with an .800 OPS, and then going out and doing what he’s done so far,” catcher Austin Hedges said after the game. “It’s not surprising to us, but he means the world to us. And you know, a big reason why we’re here now is because of David Fry.”
Fry’s heroics weren’t limited to his go-ahead home run on Thursday either. In the top of the ninth, he came to bat again with runners on base, this time ‘at the corners’ with one out. With a one-run lead in hand, Vogt believed Cleveland’s best chance to add something against reliever Will Vest was for Fry not to hurl another long ball, but rather something more subtle.
On Vest’s first pitch, Fry pushed a perfect bunt to the right side, giving Brayan Rocchio just enough time to run home from third base and slide in safely. That turned out to be a crucial insurance run when Detroit was able to score in the bottom of the ninth against world player Emmanuel Clase.
“All our guys are working on flags. It is a tool that we must use to tackle that extra run and increase the lead,” Vogt said afterwards. “And for David, when I talked to him, I said, ‘Hey, do you want to do this?’ He said, ‘Oh yeah, I’ve been bumped a lot in my life. I have confidence in it. ”
Fry confirmed. “Vogt kind of came up to me and said, ‘Hey, how confident are you in knocking down the bunt?’ And I told him I wasn’t a very good hitter in high school, so I’m pretty confident.
Fry’s two late plate appearances – a blast and a bunt – were just a few of the breathtaking plot twists that unfolded over the course of Game 4. Cleveland broke its 20-inning scoreless streak with a trio of hits and a quick run at the top. of the first, but Detroit tied things up in the next frame. Jose Ramirez’s huge solo home run to left in the top of the fifth was immediately negated by a solo home run by Tigers company man Zach McKinstry to lead off the bottom of the inning.
In the bottom of the sixth, Detroit collected several baserunners against Cleveland’s cyborg rookie relief ace, Cade Smith, including one who came around to score on a bloop single by Wenceel Perez, grabbing Detroit’s first lead of the evening and putting the Tigers nine outs away from the ALCS.
They would only record two before Fry flipped the script.
Any team that survives a win-or-go-home affair will feel pretty good after the final out is recorded. But for the Guardians in particular, such a feeling was elusive. Elimination games haven’t gone well for this franchise lately. Before Thursday’s win, Cleveland had dropped 11 straight postseason elimination games, the longest streak in MLB history. Since Game 6 of the 1997 World Series, Cleveland had failed to avoid elimination in October, and that series still ended in heartbreak 27 years ago with a Game 7 loss to the Marlins.
It’s a play that may mean nothing, given the ever-changing characters involved; every season, every team, every opponent is different. But it speaks to the repetitive experience that Cleveland fans have faced and are reminded of every time their team finds its season on the brink.
The road ahead is still treacherous — Tarik Skubal looms in Game 5, after all — but the dream of ending a 76-year World Series drought remains alive. Nine more wins are needed from Saturday.
