DETROIT – As the saying goes, “Hitting a baseball is the hardest thing to do in sports.” It is a feeling that stands alone, no qualifiers are needed. However, context is key, as not all at-bats are created equal. Regardless of the players involved, one fundamental truth holds: As difficult as it may already 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 that ended in a 5-4 Cleveland victory put Fry in the spotlight in an elimination game for his Guardians. Although he had not started the game, he was pinch-hit for rookie Kyle Manzardo with a runner on and two outs in the seventh inning, losing a run. Tigers manager AJ Hinch responded with a managerial move of his own, bringing in reliable firefighter Beau Brieske.
Facing Brieske was a tall order the moment the bullpen door opened. In four brilliant appearances, the right-hander had yet to allow a hit in this postseason. Fry was 0-for-3 with three strikeouts against Brieske this year.
A 95 mph fastball zipped by for strike one. Fry fouled on a twisted changeup for strike two.
Suddenly, in an 0-2 hole, the hardest thing to do in sports became even harder.
It is no coincidence that the stadium crowd often rises to its feet when the home team’s pitcher has reached two strikes, as the probability that the at-bat will end in the pitcher’s favor increases dramatically. This time it was no different. Comerica Park rose together, eager for Brieske to put out another Guardian rally, ready to roar in unison as it had on numerous occasions amid postseason baseball’s return to the Motor City after a decade of quiet Octobers.
But this season, in which he rose from obscurity to become one of the most popular and productive players on the Guardians roster, Fry has defied the odds time and time again. A pertinent example: Despite the overwhelming statistical evidence that success at the plate after stumbling over the pitcher’s final count is a tremendous rarity, Fry has thrived in such situations. MLB teams combined to hit .163/.197/.252 after falling 0-2 in the regular season. Fry, meanwhile, hit .265/.307/.530 in such situations, good for an .837 OPS that was the best brand in baseball.
And so, undaunted, Fry began to climb out of the 0-2 hole as he had done many times before. He fouled off another fastball before watching Brieske throw two pitches outside to even the score. Then Brieske put the pressure on again, this time in the zone. Fry jumped on him, launching a towering drive that eventually landed just beyond the left field wall for a go-ahead two-run homer.
The volume that had been increasing in each section of a park packed with 44,923 spectators (a Comerica postseason record) suddenly stopped. As Fry rounded the bases, the only sounds were those emanating from the Guardians’ euphoric dugout and the few rows behind home plate filled with family and friends of the Cleveland players.
Fry’s heroics Thursday weren’t limited to his go-ahead home run, either. In the top of the ninth, he again came to the plate with runners on base, this time on the corners with one out. With a one-run lead in hand, Vogt believed Cleveland’s best chance to score against reliever Will Vest was not for Fry to hit another long ball but, rather, something more subtle.
On Vest’s first pitch, Fry pushed a perfect bunt to the right side, allowing Brayan Rocchio just enough time to run from third base and slide in safely. That proved to be crucial insurance when Detroit managed to score against all-world closer Emmanuel Clase in the bottom of the ninth.
“All our guys work on flags. “It’s a tool we have to use to add that extra run and increase the lead,” Vogt said afterward. “And David, when I talked to him, I said, ‘Hey, do you want to do this?’ He said, ‘Oh yeah, I’ve played a lot in my life.’ I’m confident.’”
Fry confirmed. “Vogt came up to me and said, ‘Hey, how sure are you about getting the touch?’ 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 impressive plot twists that unfolded over the course of Game 4. Cleveland snapped 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. José Ramírez’s titanic solo home run to left field in the top of the fifth was immediately negated by a solo home run by Tigers utility man Zach McKinstry leading off the bottom of the inning.
In the bottom of the sixth, Detroit rallied multiple runners against Cleveland’s cyborg rookie relief ace Cade Smith, including one who scored on Wenceel Perez’s single, taking Detroit’s first lead of the night and putting the Tigers nine outs from the ALCS.
They would record only two before Fry changed the script.
Any team that survives a win-or-go-home matchup will feel pretty good after the final out is recorded. But for the Guardians in particular, that feeling has been elusive. Elimination games haven’t been going well for this franchise lately. Before Thursday’s win, Cleveland had lost 11 consecutive 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 27 years ago still ended in heartbreak, with a Game 7 loss to the Marlins.
It’s an exaggeration that perhaps means nothing, considering the ever-changing characters involved; Every season, every team, every rival is different. But it speaks to the repetitive experience that Cleveland fans have had to deal with and are reminded of every time their team finds its season on the brink.
The road ahead remains treacherous (Tarik Skubal looms in Game 5, after all), but the dream of ending a 76-year World Series drought lives on. Nine more wins will be needed, starting on Saturday.