DETROIT — David Fry blasted a two-run homer in the seventh inning and added a run-scoring sacrifice bunt in the ninth Thursday to help the Cleveland Guardians keep their season alive with a 5-4 victory over the Detroit Tigers in Game 4 of the American League Division Series.
Relievers Hunter Gaddis (1-0), Tim Herrin and Emmanuel Clase held the Tigers to one run over the last 3 2/3 innings as the Guardians tied the series 2-2 to set up a deciding Game 5 at Cleveland on Saturday.
The winner will face either the New York Yankees or Kansas City Royals in the ALCS beginning Monday in a best-of-seven series.
Cleveland earned its first playoff win when facing elimination since Game 6 of the 1997 World Series at Florida. The Guardians had dropped 11 consecutive postseason elimination games since then, the longest such losing streak in MLB history.
The Guardians — who had 11 hits in the game — snapped a 20-inning scoreless streak in the first inning when Lane Thomas singled to right field and Steven Kwan scored from third base, giving Cleveland a 1-0 lead.
The Tigers loaded the bases in the bottom of the second and tied the game at 1 when Trey Sweeney’s sacrifice fly to center scored Colt Keith.
Jose Ramirez belted his first home run of the postseason in the fifth inning off reliever Tyler Holton to push Cleveland ahead 2-1. Ramirez was hitless in his past 10 at-bats before launching a two-out changeup 418 feet to left field. Holton had replaced Tigers starter Reese Olson, who allowed one run on five hits over four innings.
Detroit’s Zach McKinstry tied the game at 2-2 leading off in the bottom half of the inning when he blasted a 354-foot home run off of Bibee into left field. Bibee, who threw 4 2/3 scoreless innings in Game 1, was immediately replaced by Chad Smith after allowing four hits and two runs.
Detroit jumped out front 3-2 in the sixth when pinch hitter Wenceel Perez hit a two-out single to center off of Gaddis that allowed Kerry Carpenter to score from second base.
Fry gave the Guardians a 4-3 lead in the seventh with a two-run home run off of Beau Brieske (0-1) with two outs. Fry’s 382-foot blast to left-center came on 3-2 count, scoring Kwan from second base.
The Guardians added an insurance run in the ninth. With runners at first and second and one out, Fry bunted and reliever Will Vest’s throw at the plate was not in time to tag a sliding Brayan Rocchio.
The Tigers pulled within one in the ninth when Justyn-Henry Malloy doubled, went to third on a groundout and came home on a groundout by Jace Jung. Clase fanned Matt Vierling to send the series back to Cleveland.
–Bob Tripi, Field Level Media