Fry saves Guards' season with pinch HR, clutch bunt to force Game 5

DETROIT -- David Fry turned to his dugout and saw his teammates leaping over the railings, throwing their equipment in the air and jumping up and down in sheer joy. Cleveland had been down to its last seven outs before its season would have come to an end. But instead, Fry gave his team a spark that’s been missing since Saturday.

Fry came off the bench, pinch-hitting for Kyle Manzardo, with two outs in the seventh, a runner on second and his team down by one. The sixth pitch he saw from Tigers reliever Beau Brieske became the highlight of his young career, as he launched a two-run homer that gave the Guardians a lead they would not relinquish in a 5-4 victory over the Tigers in Game 4 of the American League Division Series on Thursday at Comerica Park, and he added a decisive insurance run with a safety squeeze in the ninth to keep his team’s season alive.

This was the first time the Guardians won a potential elimination game since Game 6 of the 1997 World Series, snapping a postseason record of 11 consecutive losses when facing elimination. It was also the first go-ahead, pinch-hit homer in Cleveland postseason history. And now, they have a chance to move on to the American League Championship Series with a victory in Game 5 of the ALDS on Saturday at Progressive Field.