David Fry is the 20th different rookie with a walk-off hit for Cleveland since 2000 and the second this season, joining Will Brennan.
The last time two different rookies had a walk-off hit in the same season was 2014 (Jose Ramirez and Zach Walters).
Cleveland Baseball History
Rookie utilityman David Fry pitched the ninth inning against the Cubs, retiring Mike Tauchman, Nico Hoerner and Christopher Morel in order.
He’s the seventh position player in franchise history to pitch and not allow a base runner, joining:
- Sandy Leon, 2022 (2 IP)
- Kevin Plawecki, 2019 (twice)
- Brandon Guyer, 2018
- Chris Gimenez, 2016
- Ryan Raburn, 2013
- Andy Marte, 2010
- Eddie Carnett, 1945 (twice)
Carnett deserves an asterisk of sorts, as he was a fulltime position player in 1945, but had been a pitcher in the minor leagues up until 1943.
Emmanuel Clase allowed a walk off to the Royals for the third time in his career.
Most walk-offs allowed vs Royals:
- Rollie Fingers, 7
- Goose Gossage, 4
- Jason Grilli, 4
- Emmanuel Clase (and 6 others), 3
Zack Greinke went six innings and did not record a strikeout against the Guardians, a rare stat line. It’s just the fourth time it’s occurred against Cleveland in the last 10 years.
Even more rare is the fact that he also allowed 11 hits.
Here are the most recent instances of a pitcher giving up 11 hits to Cleveland without recording a strikeout prior to Greinke:
- 2018 Austin Bibens-Dirkx, DET
- 1996 Chris Haney, KC
- 1995 Steve Sparks, MIL
- 1993 Jack Morris, TOR
- 1987 Mike Morgan, SEA
Gavin Williams became the 10th rookie in franchise history with at least seven innings pitched, zero runs allowed and one hit allowed against the Royals.
The list (* indicates complete game):
- Triston McKenzie, 2021 (twice)
- Billy Traber, 2003*
- CC Sabathia, 2001
- Herb Score, 1955*
- Pete Center, 1943
- Willie Mitchell, 1910*
- Heine Berger, 1907*
- Addie Joss, 1902*
Jose Ramirez‘s grand slam against the Royals was the 13th in franchise history at Kauffman Stadium.
Most Grand Slams by Road Stadium:
- Fenway Park, 15
- Kauffman Stadium, 13
- Guaranteed Rate, 13
- Tiger Stadium, 12
- Yankee Stadium (old), 11
This isn’t too surprising since Kauffman opened in 1973, but they actually didn’t hit their first grand slam there since 1998 (Manny Ramirez off Glendon Rusch).
In his final at bat last night, Bo Naylor struck out against Diamondbacks infielder Josh Rojas.
He’s the 14th Cleveland hitter to strike out against a position player over the last 50 seasons joining:
- Franmil Reyes
- Oscar Mercado
- Mike Freeman
- Eric Haase
- Roberto Perez (twice)
- Jose Ramirez
- Brandon Guyer
- Mike Napoli
- Jerry Sands
- Asdrubal Cabrera
- Carlos Martinez/Glenallen Hill*
- Mel Hall
Martinez’s inclusion gets an asterisk because it was an add situation.
With the Indians leading the A’s 10-2 in the bottom of the 8th, Martinez fouled off a pitch against A’s pitcher Kelly Downs, who then began shouting at Martinez because he swung “too hard.”
Martinez shouted back and both players were ejected with the count at 2-2.
A’s manager Tony La Russa brought third baseman Kevin Seitzer in to pitch, and Mike Hargrove called upon Glenallen Hill, who took the only pitch he saw for a strike, resulting in a strikeout.
Some odd rules apply to this situation, which officially result in Seitzer getting credit for a strikeout of Martinez, even though they never actually faced each other.
It’s also worth mentioning Naylor’s strikeout occurred before collecting his first career hit. While I can’t confirm this, it’s reasonable to guess he may be the first player in MLB history to strike out against a position player before recording a hit.
Bo Naylor made his first career start at catcher last night, making him Cleveland’s youngest starting catcher since Lou Marson in 2009.
Over the last 50 seasons, only Marson, Eddie Taubensee and Rick Cerone have started at catcher at a younger age than Naylor.
Steven Kwan had 4 hits and a stolen base last night for the second time in his career as a leadoff hitter. He’s the 13 leadoff hitter in franchise history with multiple such games. Kenny Lofton leads with 13, Charlie Jamieson with seven, Grady Sizemore with four.
Amed Rosario also had four hits from the No. 2 spot in the order. It was the 11th time in franchise history the leadoff hitter and No. 2 hitter each collected four hits.
The two previous most recent occurrences were both Lofton and Omar Vizquel in 2001 and 1996.
The only other duo to accomplish the feat twice was Jamieson and Homer Summa, both in 1923.
Myles Straw has gone 250 games without a home run, the ninth longest streak by a Cleveland hitter over the last 100 years.
The longest drought in that span was Duane Kuiper‘s 423 games from 1977 through 1981.
Since Kuiper, the only other player to reach 250 games was Felix Fermin (408 games) from 1990 through 1993.