CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – As he has all year long, David Fry came up clutch for the Guardians when they needed him most.
“I just like watching this guy do his thing,” Will Brennan said about Fry. “Come up in the clutch like that and help our team win. That’s really all that matters at the end of the day.”
Fry secured his second walk-off hit of the season with a two-run double off the left-field wall after Brennan was intentionally walked. It was the team’s seventh walk-off of the year, and Fry is the only Guardians player with multiple walk-off hits this season.
“Part of you takes it personally but part of you also gets that it’s part of the game, they want to set up a double play,” Fry said about Brennan’s intentional walk. “You have to stay within your approach and try to get a hit.”
Fry came into the game in the fifth inning after Guardians catcher Bo Naylor suffered a right thumb contusion. Naylor was 0-2 in the game with a walk and run scored.
“He got x-rayed, he’s okay,” manager Terry Francona said. “It’s kind of the meat of the thumb. He got one of those balls in the dirt, and it just wasn’t getting better.”
The walk-off opportunity came after Emmanuel Clase allowed two runs in the top of the ninth. Aaron Hicks hit a two-run double down the left-field line. Clase has thrown 57 pitches so far in the Orioles series.
Shane Bieber made his first MLB start since July 9th after spending 69 days on the injured list with right elbow inflammation.
“I think by his own admission, his arm felt good,” Francona said. “He sets such a high bar for himself. He didn’t feel in mid-season form, and I’m not sure how you would. We talked before the game about how if he exits healthy, that’s a big step and I thought he did that and then some.”
Bieber pitched five innings and allowed five runs (four earned) on six hits with five strikeouts on 81 pitches, 52 of which were strikes. He also walked one batter, had a throwing error, and threw two wild pitches.
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“Tonight was a special night for a lot of different reasons,” Bieber said. “For me personally, it was a big goal of mine to get back out there and make a start and finish the season on my terms. I want to be a lot better than I was tonight, but my arm felt great. There’s a lot of work to be done, and a lot left to be desired. I’m confident that I’ll be able to do all that, so another step in the right direction and we go forward.”
There were a combined five errors in the game, but Andres Gimenez showed just how good he is at second base in the last two innings. He converted a double play in the eighth and stretched out to field a ground ball in the ninth.
“The approach is to always cover as much range as possible,” Gimenez said. “This [ninth] inning in particular, I was extra wary because I knew something might come my way.”
Despite the 9-8 win, an 8-6 Twins win over the Angels on Friday eliminated the Guardians from postseason contention. Minnesota has won the AL Central for the third time in five seasons.
Cleveland’s on a season-high six-game winning streak at home, and they still have a chance to avoid its second losing season in Terry Francona’s 11-year tenure by finishing the season 7-0.
The Guardians continue the homestand against the Orioles on Saturday. Cal Quantrill (3-6, 5.26 ERA) will make his sixth career start against the Orioles. Quantrill has allowed five earned runs in four starts in September. Opposing him will be left-hander John Means (0-1, 3.60 ERA) for Baltimore.