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Pinch Hitter David Fry Propels Guardians to Game 4 Win Thanks to Huge Two-Run HR

He added a sacrifice bunt in the ninth inning to help the Guardians keep their lead.

Madison Williams

Cleveland Guardians pinch hitter David Fry celebrates hitting a home run in the ALDS.
Cleveland Guardians pinch hitter David Fry celebrates hitting a home run in the ALDS. / Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images
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The Cleveland Guardians' 2024 season was inching closer to ending during Game 4 of the ALDS vs. the Detroit Tigers on Thursday, until pinch hitter David Fry entered in the seventh inning.

Fry entered the game for Kyle Manzardo in the seventh inning, and it paid off for the Guardians. During Fry's first at-bat, he fired off a 382-foot two-run home run to give Cleveland a 4–3 lead. It was exactly the spark they needed.

Fry's clutch homer was the first go-ahead pinch hit home run in franchise history, and it couldn't have come at a better time.

Fry's heroics didn't stop there. During his next at-bat in the ninth inning, he laid down a sacrifice bunt in order to bring shortstop Brayan Rocchio home to score. His bunt traveled just far enough to give Rocchio a shot to score at the plate. This put the Guardians up 5–3 heading into the bottom of the ninth inning.

Fry spoke with TNT after the game and was pretty excited to have the bunt work out in their favor.

"The only bunt I've had this year was a double play, so I didn't think I was going to do it again, but they told me to. Luckily it worked," Fry said.

The Tigers scored one run in the ninth as they attempted to mount a late comeback, but the Guardians held on and won to force a Game 5 on Saturday.

It was arguably the biggest game of Fry's career. He was called up to MLB during the 2023 season, and this is his first postseason appearance. He made quite a mark.

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Madison Williams
MADISON WILLIAMS

Madison Williams is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated, where she specializes in tennis but covers a wide range of sports from a national perspective. Before joining SI in 2022, Williams worked at The Sporting News. Having graduated from Augustana College, she completed a master’s in sports media at Northwestern University. She is a dog mom and an avid reader.

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