By LARRY LAGE AP Sports Writer
DETROIT — Pinch-hitter David Fry had a go-ahead, two-run homer in the seventh inning, then bunted home an insurance run in the ninth to help the Cleveland Guardians force a decisive Game 5 against the Detroit Tigers in their American League Division Series with a 5-4 victory on Thursday night.
“David Fry is one of the best baseball players in this league,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said.
Cleveland ended a streak of 11 losses in postseason elimination games dating to Game 6 of the 1997 World Series after Emmanuel Clase retired got five outs for his third multi-inning save of the year.
“It’s win or go home,” Vogt said. “You want your best pitchers out there as long as possible.”
AL Cy Young Award favorite Tarik Skubal will start Game 5 for the Tigers on Saturday night in Cleveland.
“It’s always comforting to have Tarik Skubal on the mound,” Detroit manager A.J. Hinch said.
The winner advances to the AL Championship Series against the Yankees in New York starting Monday.
“We’re still one win away,” Detroit first baseman Spencer Torkeslon said. “That’s the mindset. We don’t want it easy. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy.
Fry said the Guardians’ resilience was no surprise.
“We’ve shown that all year long, that’s who these guys are,” he said. “We have a bunch of tough dudes. We get down 2-1 and we’re in the locker room like it’s just another day. We show up ready to play to try and get a win. And let’s go win Game 5.”
On the verge of reaching the ALCS for the first time since 2013, the Tigers overcame a 2-1 deficit when Zach McKinstry homered in the fifth off Tanner Bibee (Mission Viejo High) and Wenceel Pérez hit a run-scoring single in the sixth.
Steven Kwan singled off Sean Guenther with two outs in the seventh.
Beau Brieske had pitched scoreless ball for 5⅓ innings over four postseason appearances before Fry, batting for Kyle Manzardo, drove a fastball off an advertising sign between the two bullpens in left for the second pinch-homer in Cleveland postseason history after Hank Majeski in Game 4 of the 1954 World Series.
Fry hit the fourth go-ahead pinch home run in postseason history when trailing in seventh inning or later after the 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 NLDS.
That quieted 44,923 fans who set a playoff attendance record for the second straight day at 25-year-old Comerica Park.
“Such a great baseball game,” Vogt said.
Clase preserved a 4-3 lead in the eighth when he escaped a second-and-third jam by striking out Trey Sweeney on a 100.9 mph cutter as the batter’s helmet came off.
Brayan Rocchio and Kwan hit one-out singles in the ninth and Fry bunted back to reliever Will Vest. Rocchio slid home headfirst to beat Vest’s backhand flip, boosting the lead to 5-3.
That proved to be important.
Pinch-hitter Justyn-Henry Malloy doubled leading off the ninth, advanced on Parker Meadows’ groundout and scored on Jace Jung’s groundout.
Clase, who gave up Kerry Carpenter’s three-run homer in the ninth inning of the 3-0 loss in Game 2, struck out Matt Vierling, who couldn’t check his swing on a low and outside cutter.
“I was really excited to get to the mound, especially getting the trust back from the manager to get me in that role and that responsibility,” Clase said through an interpreter.
Lane Thomas ended the Guardians’ 20-inning scoreless streak with a two-out RBI single in the first off Reese Olson, who did not allow a run in the first inning of 22 regular-season starts
Sweeney hit a sacrifice fly in the second and José Ramírez put Cleveland ahead with a fifth-inning homere off Tyler Holton, ending an 0-for-10 skid.
Carpenter injured his left hamstring when he scored in the sixth and was pinch hit for in the seventh.
“It’s concerning, but I’m going to hold off any thoughts until the doctors give me an update and he gets imaging and all the things that we need to do prior to Saturday,” Hinch said.
Left-hander Matthew Boyd might start Game 5 for the Guardians, whose last Game 5 was a loss to the Yankees in the 2022 ALCS. Vogt said the team will make that decision Friday.
