If the Cleveland Guardians wind up pulling off a baseball miracle and winning the American League Central this season, then the sixth inning of Tuesday’s win over the Detroit Tigers will be remembered for a number of reasons — all of them good, from the Cleveland standpoint, save for one scary moment involving David Fry.
First and foremost, the Guardians’ 5-2 win in the critical series opener pulled them into a first-place tie with Detroit. That tie — both teams are now 85-72 on the season — is really a one-game lead for Cleveland. That’s because Tuesday’s win also clinched the head-to-head season series for the Guardians, and that means they hold the tiebreaker over the Tigers. That, in turn, means that if the two teams end the season tied atop the AL Central, then the Guardians will be declared division champs by virtue of that win in the season series.
As for Tuesday’s critical bottom of the sixth, it may loom impossibly large if recent trends continue. The Tigers went into the frame with a 2-0 lead over Cleveland and reigning AL Cy Young winner (and 2025 AL Cy Young favorite) Tarik Skubal on the mound. Those were in theory unenviable circumstances for the hosts, but things didn’t unfold according to expectations.
Steven Kwan got things started off with a leadoff bunt single, and then Angel Martínez made it a small-ball trend when he laid down a bunt of his own. Skubal fielded the bunt and worsened his own lot with an ill-advised “throw” to first base:
Skubal went into longsnapper mode and paid for it, as his error put runners on second and third with no outs and brought the potent José Ramírez to the plate as the potential go-ahead run. Ramírez, though, didn’t tap into his customary power and instead kept the theme going with an RBI swinging-bunt single. That made it 2-1 with runners on the corners and Skubal still looking for his first out.
DH David Fry was up next, and he squared around for a bunt attempt with the count 2-1 in his favor. Unfortunately, Skubal’s 99 mph fastball ran in on Fry, nicked his bat, and struck him flush in the face. Fry was down for some time before being helped into a seated position and then exiting the field with assistance.
Fry made contact with the pitch, which means it was ruled a foul ball. After the game, Guardians manager Steven Vogt told reporters that Fry remained conscious throughout and was undergoing tests. Further updates are expected on Wednesday.
Pinch-hitter George Valera inherited Fry’s 2-2 count. Perhaps quite understandably rattled, Skubal uncorked a wild pitch to Valera that allowed Martínez to score the tying run. Skubal rebounded to strike out Valera but soon after balked Ramírez to third. A weakly hit grounder to the right side by Gabriel Arias brought Ramírez home and gave Cleveland its first lead of the game. Skubal whiffed Kyle Manzardo to end the sixth, but by then the script had flipped.
The Guardians tacked on two insurance runs in the later innings, and that was more than enough, what with Gavin Williams’ 12-strikeout gem and three scoreless frames from the bullpen.
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For Detroit, it means what was once a 14-game lead in the division on July 9 is now gone. It would stand as one of the great collapses in MLB history. Cleveland, meantime, was 9 ½ games out as recently as Sept. 10. As well, they’ve come back from 15 ½ out earlier this season, which according to the CBS Sports research desk would make this the largest comeback in the divisional era. The stakes are quite high for both teams, of course. Not only is the division at stake, but the Houston Astros are close on the heels of the AL Central runner-up, which means that whichever team doesn’t win the division may be in danger of falling out of playoff position altogether. Of note is that both the Tigers and Guardians hold their respective tiebreakers over the Astros.
There’s more to come, of course, as the Tigers and Guardians will be back at it on Wednesday and Thursday evenings with the division title at stake.